Resistance
by Clare
Summary: When aliens invade Goldenrod City, all the citizens disappear except for a group of youngsters who must now band together to resist the invaders. Cowritten with seven other authors, whose names are given in the first chapter
1. Chapter One

_This is a joint project between myself and some other authors from Forumnation, like "Pokemon Ark" and "Project Alpha". The only parts I wrote myself are the ones where Katie is the narrator; with the others, I tidied up the spelling, punctuation, grammar and continuity, but that's about it. I tried to preserve the original author's style whenever possible._

The cast of characters and the authors who wrote their parts is as follows:

Katie: Chiquitita (me)  
Marle: Pikacar  
Vicky: Misty4Ash  
Jewel: Linky  
Rally: Yami Doragon/Rally the Yami Hikari  
Lizzie: Caygirl  
Steve: Sir Glenn  
Matt: InsaneKaosX/Galaxy Guy

I claim no part in actually writing the parts narrated by the other characters, but I did come up with the idea so, technically, it's my story. The other authors just helped me write it . . .

OK, that's enough of author notes and disclaimers. Let's just get to the story.

**

Chapter One

**

Katie

Few people took the possibility of an alien invasion seriously until the glowing orb appeared over Goldenrod City, by which time it was already too late. I myself didn't think too much of it when I first saw it from my family's apartment; as far as I was concerned, it was probably just some unknown natural phenomenon. It seemed to hover over the city centre as if suspended on wires so fine that I couldn't see them, but it didn't occur to me then that it might be dangerous, even though there was a live news broadcast about it on tv.

"Scientists have been unable to explain this phenomenon, but the authorities in Goldenrod have warned against panic," said the newsreader.

But my Pokemon - Bellossom, Ponyta, Raichu and Ledian - seemed unusually restless that night and kept breaking out of their Poke Balls no matter how many times I put them back. In the end, I had to relent and allowed Bellossom, Raichu and Ledian into my bed, secretly glad of their company although I wished Raichu would get his tail out of my face. Ponyta was too large so she stayed on the floor, curling her hooves under her body and sleeping with one eye open.

The next day, I was woken by Maxine (my nine-year-old sister) charging into my room and belting me with her pillow. "Katie! Get up now!" she yelled. "Something funny's going on!"

"What's funny?" I mumbled drowsily as my Pokemon woke with a start. It didn't occur to me at that moment that anything was amiss. True, it did seem a little quiet outside, but, then again, it was Sunday. But, as I listened more closely, I began to realise that this was no ordinary quiet Sunday. This was a deathly hush . . .

"Mum and Dad are gone - missing," Maxine informed me. "And there's nothing on tv."

"There never is on a Sunday," I said shortly, wondering what exactly she was getting at.

"No - I REALLY mean it. All the tv channels are off the air." To prove her point, Maxine grabbed the remote that operated the tv in my room and started channel surfing. Again and again, no matter how many buttons she pressed, the same words popped up: "Signal Not Available". I tried my radio and got nothing but static on every station I tuned it to - it was then that I realised something serious must be going on. But what?

Since the house was still intact, the electricity was on and I could see no signs of ruins outside my window, it obviously wasn't a nuclear holocaust. But that only served to deepen the mystery. What could have happened to cause this total media blackout? And where were our parents? I found it hard to believe they had just . . . vanished, but a quick peek into their room told me they had. The bedclothes were scattered over the floor, but there was no trace of Mum or Dad.

At length, Maxine came and stood beside me. "Katie, I'm scared," she whispered as I put my arm around her and hugged her reassuringly.

"I know," I said. "I'm scared too. I've checked all over the apartment and the front door key's in the blue vase where it always is. If they were going for an early-morning walk, they'd have taken it with them . . ."

"Anyway," I went on, "it looks like we're on our own now. Let's get some breakfast and go see if we can find out what's going on in town . . ."

Little did I realise as I fed the Pokemon and got the packet of cornflakes out of the cupboard and poured the contents into bowls for myself and Maxine that this was the last time we would have even a remotely normal day. Our lives and those of our friends would soon be changed forever because of that glowing orb that had appeared in the sky. At barely seventeen years old, I was living in a changed world . . .

* * *

**Marle**

I jumped up with a rush of adrenaline, tossing sheets and covers askew in my mad leap out of bed. I smacked the off button on my alarm as I practically ran for the bathroom.

_"What in the world are you doing?"_ asked a sarcastic voice in my head.

"What's it look like? I'm getting ready for class!"

_"On Sunday?"_

I stopped with the toothbrush halfway to my mouth. "What'd you say?" I asked.

_"You forgot to turn the alarm off! Silly human . . ."_

I automatically threw the closest object at hand, a bar of soap, at the sarcastic Espeon in the other room. She dodged the soap automatically and continued making comments as if nothing had happened.

"Jewel," I said, "one of these days, I'm going to put you in that Poke Ball, wrap it in duct tape and give it away to the first junior trainer I see. SOMEONE has to have better idea of how to put up with you." She merely grinned mischieviously and wandered out of the room and downstairs, probably to annoy my other Pokemon.

"Oh well . . . Since I'm already up, I might as well have some breakfast. Waffles, maybe?" I thought as I wandered down to the kitchen.

Shadow and Firestorm had already helped themselves to the refrigerator. I petted my faithful Umbreon and Ninetales as I tried to find something to eat. After a few minutes of digging around in the freezer, I managed to find some frozen waffles. I was putting them in the toaster oven when I heard a Pidgeot's cry outside the window. I slid the pane up and leaned out of the window to see my Pidgeot wheeling in lazy circles over the house. He landed in a rush of dirt and dust a few moments later. I had gone out to meet him and covered my face to protect myself from the debris. "Watch it, Merlin! You trying to choke me to death?" I joked.

But one look into Merlin's eyes told me something was seriously wrong. He gestured towards the house and I took the hint. The other Pokemon had sensed that something was amiss and filed in behind us as we moved into the living room. Kita, my Persian, was already there. I fingered Miyoko's Pokeball at my belt. I'd have to explain everything to my Lapras later; Miyoko was young, but still not small enough to be comfortable in the already crowded living room.

My Pokemon and I stared in silence at the myriad of inaccessible channels before I finally voiced what most of us were thinking. "So what does this mean?"

Jewel seemed to be lost in thought for a minute before she answered. _"Merlin says that all the humans are gone."_

* * *

**Vicky**

"No, you can't take . . . You'll never take . . . NOOOOOOOO!" I could feel myself being dragged further and further down.

"Hey! Wake up, Vicky! WAKE UP!" he shouted right in my ear. Older brothers, you love to hate them . . .

"I'm awake," I mumbled. "I just like lying . . ." I ended up falling asleep once again. I felt myself being taken down the stairs and began shouting and kicking, before he decided to put me down.

"You saw the lights in the sky last night, right?" he asked.

Like everybody else in Goldenrod, I had seen them, but I thought they were lights for a new show. "Well, they aren't," my brother told me. "They're aliens. And but our parents have gone missing as well."

At first, I thought he was kidding, but I could see how serious he was by the expression on his face. "Right," I said as I turned to walk out of the door. "Let's go check the Poke Mart . . ."

I turned round to see he had gone. My blood felt like ice as I realised that he had disappeared like my parents.

* * *

**Rally**

"This isn't good," I thought while looking around.

Tiger, my Pikachu, was growling and his fur stood on end; something had spooked him and the others last night.

_"Bad,"_ Shin whispered as he walked back up to me, his dark purple tails twitched. _"Bad! Bad! Bad!"_ Shin continued on that one thought.

"I know it's bad Shin . . ." I began.

_"Bad! All the adults are gone!"_ Shin screeched in my head, making me cry out in pain as I fell to my knees. Everything swirled before Shin broke off the mental contact, his dark cobalt blue orbs locked onto my own eyes. I stood up only to have Tiger launch himself into my arms, sniffing my face and arms to assure himself that I was fine.

"I'm all right, Tiger," I told the Pikachu. he rubbed his head under my chin before climbing up onto my shoulder. "Shin," I added, "how many times have I told you . . .?"

_"Shush! Quiet!"_ Shin cut in.

"Then why . . .?"

_"Bad! Bad things happen!"_ Shin said stubbornly. I groaned in disgust, smacking my head repeatedly. Not even Sabrina could handle this Espeon's stubborness, but at least my Charizard and Lapras were strong enough to take care of anything that might try to attack us. And Titan, even though she didn't listen to me that much, would be able to knock just about anything out. Nothing is stupid enough to mess with a full grown Tyranitar. That left Aura, a Chikorita I had saved, but she wasn't that strong and she was still very shy and uneasy around strangers.

_"Rally,"_ Shin said softly, gaining my attention.

A wince spread across my features as Shin kept the contact. Sabrina had probably given the Espeon to me because of my abilities. She said I was strong and I just needed someone to help with the power, but that still didn't explain why it hurt so. "What?" I asked.

_"Follow me,"_ Shin explained simply as he started to walk off.

* * *

**Lizzie**

I was enjoying a Dove Shampoo commercial when suddenly the screen went black. At first, I thought it was a power outage, but then Kelly Lopez, the anchor for the news channel, appeared on the screen.

"We apologize for the inconvenience," she began. "The city of Goldenrod has been put under an alert. All citizens are advised to board up entrances to their homes and take security measures in any way possible. The lights from above the city have been confirmed as being from the extraterrestrial sphere. Please stay calm, stay indoors, away from windows and keep a radio nearby at all times. Thank you for watching KRTV, with the latest news on Aliens Attack." Letters flashed on the screen to show the heading of what the news station apparently deemed a catchy title.

Sad that they were thinking of such trivial things at a time like this, I thought. If this were a movie, those imbeciles would be lucky to get two stars. "A poorly scripted movie at that," I laughed to my Skiploom, Difoo. "Reminds me of _Signs_ or something - remember that one? That was a good movie."

I turned back to the screen and watched the beginning of _Survivor: The Orange Islands._

* * *

**Jewel**

"No! Go away!"

I stood on top of Goldenrod City's tallest building. All around me, many creatures hovered, glowing faintly. It was a beautiful sight, but it was so cold and I was scared. No matter how beautiful it all seemed, I had a feeling of danger.

They were watching me, their blood-red eyes piercing, and then they laughed, an eerie almost maniacal laugh. In a matter of seconds they all flew upward, creating a big shiny light that hovered just above the city. All of the adults from Goldenrod were being sucked inside the blinding light.

Shocked, I watched as my own parents were lifted up and sucked inside. Out of the light, one of the creatures hovered towards me. My body froze - I couldn't move. I watched as the creature finally stood in front of me and took my arm. "No! Go away!" I heard myself scream.

It didn't answer. It only looked down at me with those red eyes. I was being hypnotized . . .

My eyes snapped open and I took a strong gasp for air. I raised my hand to my forehead and realized I was sweating and cold. I rolled to the left side of my bed and sat on the edge.

I had been having pieces of that nightmare for the last two months. It started with the glowing creatures and kept advancing. I knew it wasn't just a normal nightmare from the first time I had it. Daddy was always sure it was just a nightmare, but what if he was wrong? Just thinking about it made my body tense.

I glanced at my clock. The glowing red digits flashed 3:07 AM and shiver ran down my spine; it reminded me of those eyes . . . But I was probably wrong. Nothing could ever go wrong today. It was Mommy and Daddy's anniversary. But, when I dreamt about the blinding light above Goldenrod, it happened . . .

I quickly jumped off the bed and ran to their room. Maybe it was all a coincidence. I was going to open the door and wake up my parents like any other kid would after having a terrible nightmare. I'd cry in Mommy's arms and she and Daddy would let me sleep between them, carressing and comforting me. I crossed my fingers as I opened the door.

The last thing I remembered was Daddy's Alakazam, Al, and Mommy's Espeon, Ruby, dashing towards me before I was enveloped by a comforting darkness. Mommy and Daddy were missing.

* * *

**Katie**

As Maxine and I walked around the deserted streets of Goldenrod, we noticed that we were the only people about. And that worried me - there was no way an entire city would be having a Sunday lie in, besides which (I checked my watch) it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. We had been walking round for hours and we still hadn't seen anyone.

Even the Pokemon Gym was deserted - and there was usually at least one trainer out to win a Plain Badge. Its door was unlocked, but there was no sign of anyone inside; the stadium stood empty, completely devoid of trainers . . .

"Let's try the Pokemon Centre," I told Maxine. "Maybe someone there will know what's going on . . ."

She nodded and we headed in the direction of the building, both of us anxious to know what was happening but, at that point in time, not suspecting that aliens might be responsible. I checked the Poke Balls in my pocket - Ponyta, Raichu, Bellossom and Ledian - partly to reassure myself that my Pokemon were all right and partly to give myself something else to think about.

When we arrived at the Pokemon Centre, there was no sign of Nurse Joy . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

I couldn't return to my house last night so I stayed in the Poke Mart since no-one was there.

I woke the next morning and squinted as the sunlight poured right into my eyes. I got up off the seats, walked out of the door and looked around. Instead of the usual noise of the crowds, there was silence.

"Oh well," I thought to myself. "I might as well try the Pokemon Center."

I drifted up to the Pokemon Center and slid open the doors to see two girls sitting on seats. "H - hi," I said nervously. I could see the smaller of the two grab hold of her companion's arm tighter. "No, it's fine - I'll go." I'd begun walking out when one of them called out to me.

"Wait! Come back!" I turned around before she continued. "I'm Katie," she said. "And this is my younger sister Maxine. You are?"

"My name's Vicky," I said as I began walking over to take a seat.

* * *

**Rally**

I had followed Shin for what seemed like an eternity. "Shin!" I whined. I never whined unless I had a good reason to - and walking around for nearly eight hours without rest was one thing I think I could whine about. "Where are we going?"

_"We're already there,"_ Shin replied as he sat down, his two tails curled around his paws. He turned his head and looked at me with half-lidded eyes. _"It's safe - there are others here."_

Tiger had long since returned to his Poke Ball so it was me and a stubborn Espeon. With a heavy sigh, I followed Shin into the Pokemon Center and was amazed to see only three other kids. For the first few seconds everybody had the Stantler-caught-in-headlights look.

The oldest girl calmed down first. "Hi! I'm Katie and this is Maxine," she said, motioning to the girl clinging to her arm.

"I'm Vicky," the third girl said, holding out her hand. When all she received was a raised eyebrow, she laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head.

"The name's Rally." I said flatly, pointing to the Espeon by my feet. "And that purple fuzz ball is Kaioshin, but you can call him Shin. Do any of you know what's going on here?"

* * *

**Lizzie**

To my horror, the television set went black. I did not blink, so I would not miss a sign that the station was back on air and Difoo mimicked me. He sat so still for so long that, when a draft blew in from the air conditioning, he was blown right off the couch. It was this precise moment when I realized that the television would NOT be coming back shortly. Mouth agape, I jumped off the couch and on top of the television, screaming and banging. A couple of violent kicks and the screen should be back in no time . . .

"Skipoo?" Difoo looked at me and laughed. It sounded more like a statement than a question; Difoo had strange issues like that.

I was aching all over. How long had it been since I'd gotten up? And Why was I neglecting everything but the television? I couldn't even remember . . . Difoo was struggling to stand up, which really wasn't working well - it appeared he was sitting in my popcorn bowl. "You ate the last of my popcorn!" I exclaimed.

Diffo blinked and continued to struggled against the Popcorn Bowl of Death. This, unfortunately, appeared to be a losing battle as, no matter what Difoo rubbed against, it made no difference. And, in case you're wondering, all my efforts to revive the television were useless. With a resigned sniff, I sat down to think.

Difoo plunked down on the floor in distress, letting out a sigh. I had the strangest idea that he looked like he was floating in a boat upon the ocean. I chuckled at this thought, but Difoo ignored me. After sitting like this for a while, he suddenly let out a small exclamation and began to poke the popcorn bowl. He tried, really he did - the fact was he could not reach. "I don't think that's going to work," I noted, cracking a smile. Once again, Difoo's retard portion was acting up. He interpreted this as encouragement and began to reach for the popcorn bowl, straining until he finally realized his arm wasn't long enough. He let out a cry and then it appeared something clicked in his brain - if he moved to face the bowl, he'd have a better chance of getting it off.

If I'd had any common sense and hadn't been gasping for air amidst laughing, I would have told the poor creature that you cannot face your own bottom. Difoo spun around, but the popcorn bowl moved just beyond his reach. "Difoo, there is only one way to defeat the Popcorn Bowl of Death," I said. "Do you remember?" Then I noticed that the door to my apartment was open . . .

I sprang to catch Difoo who saw me in midair, arms outstretched and an evil look upon my face. Difoo shrieked and tried to leap away, but I barely caaught his little green leg. "Gotcha!" I laughed as I kindly relieved him of The popcorn bowl. "Difoo, listen," I said. "Orli, that wonderful Pokemon of mine, has gone off and deemed it a good idea to terrorize some poor neighbor of ours. Keep in mind it is very, very late and you know what the landlord said about it happening again . . ."

I ran to the cupboard and grabbed bandages, band aids, cotton and all the items which could possibly be needed. This plan included Lime-flavored power bars, Difoo's own invention. Using them was risky, but Difoo and I really had to get this done with as little pain as possible. Because, when it all came down, Orli wasn't a spiffy character - after all, she was a Wooper . . .

Orli and Difoo walked behind me in silence. It had been easier than usual; to my surprise; the Wooper had only given chase for about five minutes before starting to Riverdance, sure she had finally won. But Difoo and I had caught Orli before she wreaked havoc on someone's garden. Dancing, though disturbing, was at the least a less dangerous side effect to her insanity. Orli, Difoo and Lizzie - that's us, probably the strangest, most demented Pokemon and trainer team that ever was.

The roads were empty tonight. And then, I heard the sharp whistling sound of wind between the tree branches, a sound which was normally drowned by the night life of Goldenrod. And the entire city was darker than I was comfortable with. I shuddered and pulled on my fleece with a nervous chattering of teeth. Why was I so afraid? I didn't know what to be afraid of, but there was something I knew I was supposed to fear, out here in the darkness. But what? I didn't want to know.

Rain clouds murmured in the distance and I feared them dropping their witch's brew upon me, but I feared even more the silence. Rows of classy urban stores fronted the street. I walked down the sidewalks and gazed at the beautiful items, my footsteps conspicously loud. The street lights had all been dimmed. The silence rang in my ears like an echo. Though I tried to hear and see, my senses were no longer an asset but a hindrance to understanding. In this silence, how would the Pokemon Center be open? Would they even be open?

A lump rose in my throat. It was as if I, Lizzie Ann Patterson, was the last person alive in Goldenrod. What could have caused this mayhem of nothing? The fear rose again in my heart. I lifted my eyes to the sky, praying for a sign. It was one of those times when none of the options were good, but two were far worse than the other. Something about Goldenrod being so abandoned scared me . . .

In the distance, the shining light from the Pokemon Center swept across the road. Though horribly dim, it blasted into my eyes. I quickly covered them so I could see; I had been in darkness so long, the light was blinding. I broke into a ran as I approached the Center and, only when I brought out my hand to open the door did it hit me that the walk through Goldenrod had scared me so painfully; it wasn't the city in itself but the eerie feeling I couldn't place, that I had never felt before. The Pokemon Center still had its aura, that aura of familarity and safety it always had. I pulled back the door handle, but it was locked.

Everything in me was numb as I sank to the ground. I brought Difoo and Orli closer to me for warmth which neither of them possessed. My eyelids were heavy, but I insisted on staying awake, paranoid of all possibilities of what could happen if I slept. Goldenrod had never seemed a more frightening place. A chill moved down my spine as thunder rolled across the city and I began to grow desperate. I jumped to my feet and faced the door. Curling my hands into fists, I banged on the glass. "Let me in! Let me in!" I yelled.

I could have kept banging, but tears began to fall from my eyes and I withdrew my hands from the glass, instead using them to wipe my eyes from the pain. Orli let out a sad little cry of sympathy and with sheer depression, I began to bawl. Everything had become so hopeless. Difoo and Orli moved up against me, not for warmth but for comfort. They looked at me with sad eyes and I hugged them. A sharp noise broke me from my trancelike sorrow, which had held me fast. Momentarily throwing my emotions aside, I jumped up.

"Eh, hello?" someone asked from behind the door.

"Please help me!" I pleaded. A tear fell down my cheek, leaving a salty trail that shone in the sudden light from behind the door.

"Come in," the girl said, smiling sweetly. With a quick nod to my Pokemon, we walked inside.


	2. Chapter Two

**

Chapter Two

**

**Marle**

I yawned as I locked the door on my way out. Confident that my home would be safe from vandals, I started for the city with my Pokemon to investigate the latest strangeness. "This is so eerie," I muttered as we crossed the city limits and entered the abnormally silent metropolis.

Jewel nodded almost imperceptibly at my side. As usual, all of my Pokemon, except Miyoko, were traveling outside of their Poke Balls. We were on full alert and I never used Miyoko for battling if I could help it. Overhead, Merlin trilled piercingly and shot forward, heading deeper into the city. "Now what's with that bird?" I wondered out loud.

_"Who knows?"_ answered Jewel.

I shrugged in reply. "You need to stop reading my thoughts like that. I'd like a little privacy in my own mind, seeing as I can't get a moment to myself in my own house."

Jewel only grinned. _"What mind?"_ she sent telepathically as she Teleported to a spot about twenty feet away. Instead of chasing after her or throwing random convenient objects as usual, I ignored her and kept walking. Something was seriously wrong here and we had to get to the bottom of it and figure out what the heck was going on.

Jewel, realizing I wasn't in the mood for games, reappeared at my side some moments later. Kita and Shadow came running back from the next street, looking worked up about something. Jewel listened attentively for a moment as the two related what they had seen. Then, they turned and ran back in the direction from which they had come, followed closely by Jewel. "Hey! What's going on you guys!" I shouted, struggling to keep up. I really should start running more.

_"People! They found people!"_

We rounded the corner to arrive at the Pokemon Center. Merlin had landed on the Center's sign and was busy preening his feathers. Firestorm had parked herself at the entrance and barked eagerly when we appeared. I walked up to the glass doors and peered inside, followed closely by Kita, Shadow, Jewel and Firestorm. Merlin finished what he was doing and joined us at the door. Inside, I thought I could make out a few dim shapes on the lobby's couches, but I couldn't be sure because the Center's lights weren't on and that particular area was shrouded in darkness. I tested the doors, but they were locked. I shrugged and turned to beat on the glass doors, hoping that someone would hear me and let me in.

* * *

**Katie**

I was alerted by the sound of someone pounding on the door to the Pokemon Centre and yelling to be let in. Wondering who it could be, I crept over to have a look - I kept a tight hold on my Poke Balls in case they were needed as I peered through the glass doors of the building and saw a girl I knew from school. Her name was Marle and she had been in the class above me.

She recognised me as well. "Katie! Hurry up and let me in!" she yelled as I fumbled with the Door Open switch. But there was a slight problem; that door was designed so that, once it was locked, it could only be opened with a swipe card. "What's wrong?" Marle demanded when I couldn't get the door open straight away.

"I need Nurse Joy's swipe card," I replied, turning as Maxine and the three other girls came to see what was going on. One of them was called Vicky, another was named Rally and I hadn't caught the third girl's name. But she was the one who spoke to me when she heard what I said.

"It'll be on her desk somewhere," she told me. "That's IF she didn't have it with her when she was taken . . ."

"Taken?" echoed Maxine as I rifled through Nurse Joy's desk. "By what?"

"I'm not sure," the girl said. "But, from what I've seen, all the adults in town are gone . . ."

"And that's probably why the radio and tv aren't working," added Rally, reminding me of how eeriely silent Goldenrod's radio tower had seemed when Maxine and I passed it. Usually, it was full of day-trippers come to look behind the scenes at Johto's largest radio station, but today there hadn't been so much as a coachload of senior citizens.

"Anyway," I said as I finished searching through Nurse Joy's desk, "that card doesn't seem to be here. We'll have to find another way to open that door. Do any of you have a Voltorb or a Pineco - something that knows Self Destruct?"

They all shook their heads, but Vicky had another idea. "What about Fire Types?" she asked. "Could they burn their way through?"

It was worth a try, so I released my Ponyta as Rally let out a Charizard and we told Marle to stand well back as the two Pokemon used Fire Blast on the door.

* * *

**Marle**

Within minutes, the glass portion of the door had melted under the combined Fire Blasts from Katie's Ponyta and another girl's Charizard. Firestorm had joined in with her own Flamethrower and the door was quickly decimated. I waited until the glass had cooled before I chanced stepping through.

"Thanks," I murmured once I was inside.

"Uh, guys? Why didn't you just open the door like this?" A girl I later learned was named Lizzie demonstrated by walking over and opening what remained of the doorframe with the inside handle.

I sighed. "Moving on," I said, looking around the group. "Does anyone here have a clue as to what the heck is going on?" Taking in the blank stares, I answered my own question "I guess not . . ."

After introductions were made, Rally stepped in with the voice of authority. "The way I see it, our only option is to explore the city and see what clues we can gather," she said. "There have to be others who didn't disappear. Maybe someone saw something that will help us figure this out . . ."

* * *

**Katie**

We all smiled sheepishly as Lizzie showed us that the door was actually unlocked and Fire-Blasting it open had been unnecessary.

Then, Rally started talking about how we needed to find out if there were any people around, anyone who had somehow escaped this mass disappearence like we had. So we left the deserted Pokemon Centre and made our way into the streets of Goldenrod City.

"What do you guys think happened?" asked Marle as we walked down a dark alleyway. That was something we wouldn't have dared to do normally, but this was clearly not a normal city anymore - someone (or someTHING) had taken nearly the entire population, leaving only a bunch of kids.

"I've no idea," I told her as I squeezed Maxine's hand reassuringly. Then, an idea occured to me - maybe we could contact the outside world via someone's Poke Gear.

"Do any of you own a Poke Gear or anything like that?" I asked. I didn't and nor did Maxine, so both of us looked at the others in the hope that one of them did. In the end Vicky spoke up.

"I do," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the combined watch, portable radio and mobile phone.

"Well, then use it!" I snapped. I didn't mean to sound harsh, but I was getting worried about our situation.

"OK . . . OK!" Vicky muttered as she turned the Poke Gear on and switched it to Phone mode. "I'll call my cousin in Cherrygrove City - see if he knows what's been going on here . . ."

With that, she selected her cousin's name from the Poke Gear's Quick Dial menu and the rest of us waited while the call was put through. But, after about five minutes, she switched the Gear off and shook her head. "I can't get through," she told us.

"Why not?" asked Lizzie as we all felt a strong feeling of unease.

"Something's blocking the signal," Vicky replied as she put the Poke Gear back in her pocket. "All I could get was static . . ."

This was getting serious and we decided we'd better stick together until we found out what was happening and why. And, with no means of contacting the outside world, we were on our own. The first thing we had to do was exactly what Rally had said - find out if there was anyone else left.

"Until we do that, we'd better stick together," I told the others. "For all we know, we're the last people left in Goldenrod City . . ." As I spoke, I was reminded of a book called "The Day Of The Triffids" that I read once and which involved a man waking up to find that the world as he had known it was gone, taken over by mutant plants.

Now, it looked like we were in much the same situation, only - as we later learned - it wasn't Triffids that we were up against . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

We walked around Goldenrod City, stopping and looking at any sort of movement. Meanwhile, the little cogs in my brain had been whirring, trying to work out why they would take the population of Goldenrod City, but leave a bunch of kids. Then, it popped into my head.

"I've been thinking," I announced. "Back at the Pokemon Center, you were saying, why would they take the population of Goldenrod City, or even Johto, but leave us lot behind. Then it hit me - maybe they couldn't tell we were there." I could tell everyone was confused, so I decided to explain. "Well, my brother was one of the last to disappear, so he might have had half of what we have - or don't have. You see?"

I was sure that they didn't fully understand me, but I decided it was best to leave it at that.

* * *

**Jewel**

I felt something wet on my cheek. It was Ruby, licking me so she would wake me up from my slumber. I didn't want to wake up. I'd had that nightmare again and I wanted to know what happenned next. I wanted to know what would happen if I went with the scary creature. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe . . .

I heard voices and I wanted to know whom were they. Grudgingly, I opened my eyes. It was still dark, so dark. Sure, Ruby and Al were here to protect me and I knew they love me a lot, but I missed Mommy and Daddy so . . . It was then that a light of hope flickered inside of me. "Ruby, Al, I know where Mommy and Daddy are at!" I cried.

_"Where?"_ Ruby asked telepathically.

"Up in the building!"

Ruby and Al looked at me, obviously confused. _"It could be dangerous,"_ Al said, _"Let us go with you."_

I nodded. I carefully put on my small slippers, grabbed a sweater and walked out. I opened the front door, followed closely by Al and Ruby. A sharp cold breeze welcomed me.

As we walked towards the big building, I noticed there were no people around. I had the ability to feel their presence, but, today, I just couldn't sense anyone. It was only after we passed the Pokemon Center that I felt someone's powerful presence. I looked around. Only us psychics could be felt from afar; we have powerful auras. Maybe they could help.

I tried to talk to them. _"Please . . . help me! They took Mommy and Daddy!"_

_"What?"_ another girl thought to me. _"Wh - who are you? Do you know what's going on?"_ She was obviously surprised to hear me in her mind.

I could see them now. She had stopped, but she wasn't facing me. _"Turn around!"_ I called. _"I'm here!"_

She spun around. "Hey guys! Wait up!" she said out loud. "There's a little girl over there!" She pointed at me and started running.

I was already in front of the big building. I turned around towards it. Something in the back of my head told me to go up the building, to not let anything stop me. I raised my hand, my blue aura flaring. I didn't know what I was doing anymore; it was as though something controlled me. I sent her flying backwards, towards the others. I turned around and ran inside the building.

Al and Ruby tried to stop me. I wanted to stop myself too. I was scared now. _"I'm sorry! He . . ."_ I tried to send the message, but something stopped me.

I finally reached the rooftop. I looked up and saw that the huge light the creatures had created was still up there. Then, something came from the light. It was just like my nightmare. Al and Ruby sawit and tried to stop it using their powers.

I just kept looking at its eyes. _"Stop them! Block them!"_ the voice hissed in my mind again. _"Kill them!"_

I was crying; I didn't want to do it, but, somehow, I raised my hand. I was gathering all of my energy to aim a beam at them.

"STOP!" someone yelled from down below.

Instead of killing Ruby and Al as the voice told me to, I unleashed all of my energy, making my aura flare uncontrollably. The creature took a couple of steps back and I wasn't looking into its eyes anymore. I was feeling exhausted and I wasn't aiming my powers at anything.

I saw those people running towards us. They were yelling and screaming, but I couldn't hear them; it was as though I was deaf. I knew both of the psychics were using their powers to try to stop the creature, but I couldn't tell anymore.

My knees went weak and everything was dark again . . .

* * *

**Rally**

_"Monster!"_ I thought acidly, not knowing what was happening, that my aura had flared up around me like a blue flame.

_"Yes! Kill! Kill them!"_ an icey tone told me, slithering around my mind like a live wire.

I cried out in pain before gritting my teeth. _"No! I . . . kill . . . you!"_ I roared out telepathically as I brought my hands up. A black glow formed and shot out in a beam similar to a Hyperbeam. It hit the monster and shoved it back. I gritted my teeth and put more power into the attack. There was a massive explosion and the thing was shoved away from the girl. It landed with a thud and didn't move.

My legs shook and gave out on me. My breath was ragged and my head throbbed. "Wow!" I whispered. "I didn't know I had that much power . . ."

"It's not dead!" the child, Jewel, cried out as the thing stood up once more.

_"Not for long!"_ Shin stated as he turned to the other psychic types. They were silent for a few seconds, before turning to the monster as it stood up and, with a collective roar, unleashed their powers in a mighty blast, obliterating it and the buildings behind it. Marle, Vicky, Lizzie and Maxine were speechless.

"OK," Katie said. "Who is that girl and what in the world was that? And, Rally, What did you and Marle do?"

I pointed at myself. "I'm a psychic . . . powerful I guess," I gasped out, still recovering from whatever it was I did. Shin panted as he walked stiffly over to me while the other Psychic Types dragged their tired bodies back over to us, the Alakazam carrying the girl.

_"We . . . must . . . find . . . hiding place!"_ the other Espeon managed to think out before collapsing.

* * *

**Katie**

We all wondered who the girl we had found was. She was a kid - even younger than Maxine - so where were her parents? Had they disappeared as well? And what was that monster we had seen menacing her before Rally got rid of it with some sort of Psychic power?

This was beginning to scare me, to scare all of us and I knew we had to figure out what that creature was and why it was here. I spoke to Marle and Lizzie about it as we sheltered in Goldenrod's Underground Passage, normally full of shoppers but currently deserted except for our little group.

"What do you think that thing was?" I asked as I sat stroking my Raichu. We had each let one of our Pokemon out to keep an eye on things.

Lizzie looked down at her Skiploom. "I don't know," she told me. "Whatever it is, it's not of this world."

"And how do you figure that?" asked Marle. "What if it's just some kind of undiscovered Pokemon?"

"Look at it this way, Marle," Lizzie persisted. "That thing was attacking that kid we found - and it's not like Pokemon to do that unless they're provoked. Even then, they usually go for the person's Pokemon and not the person directly . . ."

So we had had our first encounter with the race that had invaded our city. Little did we know that there were more of those creatures lurking out there . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

Spook (my Misdreavus) floated around my head as I sat in thought. Unfortunately, my theory had just been broken by the recent event . . . Or had it?

After Rally found out about her hidden qualities, she could tell where the little girl was, even blindfolded. But it didn't work the same for any of the others except Marle, but she claimed that she made a sound each time. So what was it that made the monsters leave us behind and take everyone else? There must have been something I was missing.

* * *

**Katie**

I was with the girl we had found when she woke up and immediately asked if we had seen her parents. I didn't know what to say - how did I tell a little kid that all the grown ups in town seemed to be gone?

Nonetheless, I decided I'd better at least try to gain her trust and racked my brain for something to say. "Don't be frightened - we're your friends," I told her as gently as I could. "Won't you tell me your name?"

"Jewel," she said simply. "Jewel Stewart."

"That's a pretty name," I remarked. "Mine's Katie and . . ." I broke off when I saw an Espeon approaching the child. I knew it wasn't Marle's since hers was with the others. "Is that your Espeon?" I asked at length.

Jewel shook her head. "Ruby belongs to my mummy," she said. "But I can't find her or Daddy anywhere . . ." She broke off and looked down at the floor as I looked at her, longing to make everything all right but knowing that there was little I could do.

"I know how you feel," I told her. "My parents are missing too - and I've got a sister just a few years older than you. So . . ." I paused and smiled as an idea occured to me that MIGHT get Jewel's mind off her missing parents. "So I guess you'd better look after Ruby for a while - guard that Espeon with your life, OK?"

She nodded and then produced another Poke Ball from her pocket. "It's my daddy's Alakazam," she said.

"Then you can look after them both," I told her. "But, before we do anything else, let's go look for a few more people . . ."

I refused to accept that seven young girls were the only people left in Goldenrod.

By the end of the day, we had discovered about twelve other kids, both boys and girls, ranging in age from ones who looked like they had barely started school to teenagers. But there was not a single sign of any adults and I knew they couldn't have simply vanished like that.

I thought about what Lizzie had said about those creatures being "not of this world". At first, I'd thought she had simply watched "The X-Files" once too often, but now I was beginning to wonder. What were those creatures and why were they here? What was so important about Goldenrod?

That was what we aimed to find out, so we had all gathered together in the town square to discuss the Invaders (as we called them) and what, if anything, we could do against them.

"Should we try to escape while we still can?" asked a girl named Olivia, who had a Togetic fluttering round her.

But one of the boys - whose name was William - quickly dismissed that idea. "The Invaders have this whole city sealed off," he told us. "No-one can get in or out - I know because my friend tried to escape and . . . and . . ." He stammered, briefly unable to bring himself to tell us what had happened to his friend, before continuing. "Anyway, my friend tried to escape and he walked straight into some sort of force-field - it burnt him to a crisp . . ."

"Well, what CAN we do?" I demanded from where I stood with Maxine and Jewel, determined to protect them both no matter what. But how could I protect them against these beings that had caused all the adults in town to disappear and had cut off all contact we had with the outside world, even to the point of making it impossible for us to take a quick trip to Azalea or Ecruteak?

It was another boy (his name was Allan) who answered - by pulling out two Poke Balls and releasing an Ekans and a Quilava. "I'll tell you what we'll do!" he declared. "We'll fight this menace - all of us!"

* * *

**Vicky**

"What! That's crazy talk!" I exclaimed. "All of our pokemon combined couldn't defeat one of those invaders. They're just too powerful."

Rally lokked up to me. "Well, what about me and Jewel?" she asked. "We're psychics and can take out an invader."

I thought for a little while - maybe they were right. "Yes," I said. "But anything so powerful would take quite a while to recharge to the same level. We at least need a plan based on stealth and surprise. It's no good just trying to waltz in there."

After I went through what I had just said, my cheeks had turned red. I wasn't used to trying to take control, so I sat down again and let the others work out a plan.

* * *

**Marle**

Arguments flew back and forth about what to do about these strange invaders, but my thoughts were still centered on that battle. What exactly HAD happened? I knew that Rally and the kid, Jewel, were psychics, but I'd still never seen anything like that before. And how come no one else had seen that blue-black aura of flame that had surrounded Rally before she attacked? I'd said something about it and the others had looked at me like I was crazy or something.

Rally had given me a sidelong glance, however, and I had a feeling I was about to find out more than I ever wanted to know as she detached herself from the group for a moment and headed my way. "These people are crazy!" she practically roared, holding her head in both hands. "They're giving me a headache!" I tried to suppress a grin but failed miserably. "Er, I wanted to talk to you about something you said earlier," Rally went on.

That got my attention. "Oh?" I asked.

Rally was direct and straight to the point. "You said you saw my aura flare up earlier before I attacked that . . . thing, right? Have you ever had something happen to you that couldn't be explained?"

That seemed to come out of nowhere. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that Rally was right. I'd had a number of strange experiences that couldn't be explained - random objects floating through the air, mysterious explosions, my knowing something was going to happen just before it did and thinking it was mere coincidence . . . Wait! Was she reading my mind?

My silence must have been answer enough for Rally. "I thought so," she said. "I wondered at first why you and your Espeon got along so well. You're a psychic too - that's why you could see my aura and the others couldn't!"


	3. Chapter Three

**

Chapter Three

**

Vicky

After hearing that we now had three psychics in our small group, the plan for us to get to the aliens had been changed a bit.

"Right, so we're going to go and search for a way to get to the aliens' hideout without flying," Rally said, standing in front of me.

"And if there's a way in, we can try and sneak in," I said. "If not . . ." I sighed " . . . we are going to have to battle it out. Either way, we have got to save the adults!"

Rally nodded her head as she, Marle and Jewel set off to the building where we found the aliens and Jewel.

* * *

**Katie**

While Marle, Rally and Jewel were out trying to track the Invaders down (apparently all three girls had some sort of Psychic abilities) the rest of us decided to search the rest of the city for weapons - anything - that might help us in the fight against these beings that had taken our parents.

I was with Lizzie, William and Olivia, each of us accompanied by one of our Pokemon. I had let my Ponyta out, while Lizzie had her Skiploom and William had his Golem. Olivia's Togetic was her only Pokemon so she had released the dainty creature from her Poke Ball and she was now fluttering after us.

"Do any of you know where we can find these weapons?" asked Lizzie as we made our way through the deserted streets. Little more than a day had passed, but it was already beginning to feel like we were walking through a ghost town. I was reminded of that tv series called "The Tribe", in which all the adults had died and the kids had to fend for themselves. Except, this time, no-one had died - we hoped . . .

"There's a gun shop not far from here," said William, pointing to the left as he spoke.

"But don't you need a licence or something . . .?" Olivia started. But William cut her short.

"In case you've forgotten, there's no-one around to issue licences," he said. "Besides, I can't see anyone letting a bunch of kids loose with guns."

But would ordinary guns be enough to deal with the Invaders? Or did they have something about their physiology that made them resistent to Earth weapons? I voiced my concerns to the others, but William just shrugged.

"Right now, Katie, anything's better than facing those things unarmed," he told me.

* * *

**Steve**

I turned over the rifle carefully. It was an old bolt action of some sort and accompanying it was a precious few clips of ammunition. I didn't know how to shoot, but it was somehow reassuring to have the heavy rifle slung over my shoulder.

I checked over my belongings - a small cache of firearms stuffed into a medium-sized backpack, thirty feet of rope, a week's supply of beef jerky, a knife and a flashlight. My first priority was to try and escape. I figured tht, if I could find a city airstrip, it would give me my best chance.

* * *

**Katie**

As we left that gun shop - each of us now armed with at least a handgun - I wondered again just what was going on around here. All I knew was that aliens seemed to have taken over the city of Goldenrod and only a handful of kids had escaped.

But had we escaped? Or had we merely been overlooked for some reason? And how long would be be able to stand up to these Invaders? I knew Ponyta, Raichu, Bellossom and Ledian would fight alongside me to the bitter end, but would four Pokemon really be much good against whatever had caused our parents and the other adults to disappear and cut us off from the outside world.

And then there was Marle, Rally and Jewel, all of whom had gone off to try and track down the Invaders. Somehow, I doubted three girls would be able to handle such creatures even with psychic powers . . . Well, Marle and Rally might, but Jewel was still very young. If anything happened to a kid like that . . . let's just say I could imagine how I'd feel if it was Maxine.

"We'd better be getting back," said Lizzie. "Once we're all together, we'll be able to plan what we should do next."

* * *

**Vicky**

I had hidden my gun as soon as I got it. Unlike everyone else, I felt these guns weren't safe; we were untrained and many of us could not aim properly. Those of us that could were struggling to help everyone.

We walked around the city trying to find the Pokemon Center, which had sort of become our headquarters. Everyone was looking round suspiciously, waiting for something to pop round the corner. When we got to the Pokemon Center, everyone sat down on the seats or on the carpeted floor and listened to Katie.

"We know how to get to the Invaders - they are up there," she said as she pointed at one of the tallest buildings in Goldenrod City.

"We must go through the building and arrive at the top. We shall then fight our way in unless we can sneak in," Rally finished.

Everyone in the room cheered as we left the room to go to the building.

* * *

**Katie**

The tallest building in Goldenrod was of course the radio tower, now eerily silent with no-one in it except us. Since the lift wasn't working, we had to trudge all the way up the stairs and I hoped the younger kids (like Maxine and Jewel) would be able to hold out.

It was while we were making our way up the second flight of stairs that Maxine spotted something, a Torchic huddled in a corner and looking lost and bewildered in the deserted building.

"What's that Torchic doing here?" she asked.

"I don't know," Marle replied. "But we can't just leave it."

Maxine crouched down to the Torchic's level and spoke to it reassuringly. As I watched her, I thought of my own Pokemon, of Ponyta, Bellossom, Raichu and Ledian, recalling how eagerly Maxine had been looking forward to next year when she would be old enough to start her Pokemon journey. Provided, that is, we could sort these Invaders out first . . .

Anyway, the Torchic (it turned out to be a female) seemed to trust Maxine and let her touch her on the head. "Looks like we've got another Pokemon on our team," Olivia remarked as Maxine picked the Torchic up in her arms.

"Bring that Torchic with you and come on!" I urged Maxine as we continued on up the stairs and onto yet another deserted floor. Lizzie and Marle were in the lead and the rest of us were following.

Suddenly, there was a deafening crash from outside. It sent us all hurrying up the remains stairs and towards the nearest window to see what was going on.

"It's a plane!" Lizzie shouted. "And it's just crashed into the town square!"

Marle pulled out one of her Poke Balls and released a Pidgeot. "The pilot could need help - I'm going to take a look," she informed us as she mounted the bird's back. "Merlin, use your Hyperbeam to blast a hole in the wall!"

Merlin (which was evidently the Pidgeot's name) threw back his head and sent a powerful blast of energy from his beak. It struck the window frame dead on and blasted it and most of the surrounding wall away.

* * *

**Vicky**

I stood and watched as Marle's Pidgeot flew her over to the crash site. I had been tempted to go and get Dotty ( my Ditto) to transform into Pidgeot and fly over there as well, but I had been advised not to.

I wondered who was on the plane. I supposed that there had been interference in the air which messed up the engine or electrics. I don't know - I'm not a mechanic.

* * *

**Steve**

"Damn it!" I cursed.

Something was yanking at the tail of my aircraft. Invisible but powerful, it was trying to pull the plane towards a nearby building. I had run her up to full throttle, but it was a constant struggle against the invisible force which now tugged my aircraft towards a gleaming office building. I stepped on the rudder pedals and rolled out to try and fight it.

Then I heard the plane groan under the stress. It wouldn't last much longer under this battering, so I had to get to the ground as quickly as possible. The invisible force pulled the plane down just as I tried to descend, and now the street angled up at a gut-wrenching rate. At the last second I used a desperation move - I pulled back on the yoke, carefully trying not to stall, and at the same time extended full flaps, praying that they wouldn't tear off.

It worked to a certain extent. Instead of drilling a hole in the street and pancaking the airplane, I crushed the landing gear into the plane and smacked the propeller into the ground. The engine exploded and caught fire, but even that didn't hold my attention for long and the plane skidded into the town square and careened straight for a statue in the middle. "Oh bugger!" I muttered as I braced myself for the impact.

But the plane bounced off at an oblique angle, finally slamming sideways into a jewelry store on the far side. The weakened section tore free and I suddenly found myself sitting in the burning front half of an airplane inside a jewelry store, strapped in and holding the flight yoke. "That's it, I'm leaving," I announced to myself.

With that, I promptly unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed my pack and jumped out the new hole behind the cockpit, dazed but otherwise unhurt. Boy, if my instructor was around to see that . . .

A movement in the air caught my eye and I looked up. A Pidgeot circled overhead, apparently having noticed the crash. "Well it's good to see at least SOMETHING alive out here," I said aloud.

"That goes for me too!"

I looked closer. The Pidgeot was descending and there was a girl riding on its back. "Hey, another human! Now we're getting somewhere!" I exclaimed happily.

"Not just me, either," the girl replied, now only a few feet off the ground. "The rest of the group'll be glad to see you." Her pidgeot landed and she dismounted. Up close, I saw that she was pretty.

"H - hi!" I stammered. "Awful nice day to go flying, eh? You also looking for other humans?"

"Not really," she replied. "I'd say most of the population's gone, we're kind of trying to form a resistance."

"Oh? Against them aliens? What are you, some sort of paramilitary force?"

She shook her head. "Mostly just kids," she said.

"Well, add another kid to the list - I'm only eighteen. Steve Hatton, by the way, crash artist extraordinaire." I extended my hand.

"Marle," She replied shaking my hand. "And this is Merlin, my Pidgeot."

"Where's the rest of your group?" I asked. 

"Over there." She pointed at the Radio Tower. I noticed a hole in the side and couple of heads peerin out at us. "Come on - I'll get Merlin to carry you over."

She turned and began to mount Merlin.

* * *

**Vicky**

Marle and the pilot, Steve, quickly arrived at the Radio Tower, where the long introduction began. We had to go through everyone before we moved any further upwards. As we climbed up the stairs, I had a sense of being watched. I just hoped it wasn't the aliens.

Katie and a few other people were leading the group up the stairs when they all suddenly stopped, which meant that everyone crashed into the person in front. When we got sorted out, they signalled for us to hide against the wall. It didn't matter where we were though, we could all see what was going on at the top of the stairs. Wires were trailed round the room, some actually coming down the stairs, even though I hadn't noticed them.

I could see the aliens wandering, but they still hadn't noticed us, a biggish group of kids. Round the corner, something was giving off a green light in a dark room.

* * *

**Katie**

"What's that?" asked Vicky.

"What's what?" I asked, keeping a tight hold on my Ledian's Poke Ball with one hand and resting the other on Maxine's shoulder.

Vicky pointed. "That green light," she replied. And I saw it too. It lit up for a few seconds before going out again, giving the whole place a rather sinister air. Could it have something to do with whatever these aliens were doing? I didn't know and I wasn't about to try and find out.

"Whatever it is, it's probably dangerous," I said cautiously. "Let's . . ."

Before I could get any further, the Torchic Maxine had found hopped out of her arms and darted in the direction of the green light. "Torchic!" Maxine shouted, running after the small Fire Pokemon as I tried in vain to restrain her.

"Maxine! Come away from there!" I yelled as, heedless of the danger, I released Ledian and ran after my kid sister. She may be a pain at time, but they say blood's thicker than water so I wasn't about to let her face this alone.

"Well, we're going with you," said Marle. And, with that, she opened one of her Poke Balls and released her Ninetales Firestorm. "There's no way you'll be able to take on the Invaders alone."

I didn't like the thought of them - especially the younger kids like Jewel - putting themselves in danger, but it was probably best if I didn't try to deal with this situation alone. So I nodded my head slowly. "OK, but we'd better keep together and someone'll have to watch the younger kids," I added cautiously.

* * *

**Marle**

Keeping close behind Katie, we continued our climb upwards towards the mysterious green light. I noticed it seemed to be pulsating and wondered, somewhat morbidly, what we might find at the top. There was still no sign of Maxine . . . Without warning, we emerged into a cavernous, brightly-lit room. I stumbled into Katie, taken back by the abrupt lack of stairs. "What the...!" I gasped.

We were surrounded; well, "surrounded" by three of them but surrounded nonetheless. The stairs had emerged right in the center of the room. I growled, feeling the anger and helplessness build up inside me, pulsating in my chest. Was this what Rally and Jewel had felt?

We instinctively backed into each other, presenting only our fronts to the invaders so they couldn't get in a sneak attack. Firestorm put up a Light Screen just as I prepared to give the command. The aliens seemed to stare at us for a moment as if deciding what to do, before raising some sort of weapons and taking aim. "Oh shit!" I muttered softly, trying to follow the line of fire from the alien in front of me . . .

"Look out!" I screamed, tackling Steve and sending us both crashing to the floor with the momentum as the brilliant laser beam zipped by harmlessly overhead. All around us, the others were screaming and dropping to the floor to avoid the deadly red lights. I opened my eyes to see Steve grinning cheekily and suddenly realized that I was lying on his chest in a rather "compromising" position. Blushing fiercely and not quite sure why, I quickly moved aside.

Firestorm shot me a look as she struggled to maintain the Light Screen. She had followed me and was managing to reflect most of the lasers, but, every once in a while, one would slip through and she would have to move quickly to avoid being hit.

Feeling the fury build again, now fueled by my additional embarrassment, I glared angrily at the nearest Invader. The moment I looked in its direction, my eyes were drawn to meet its gaze. It was as if I had lost control of my own body. I felt the fight leave me, filling instead with something like indifference. Why were we fighting these creatures? I mean, so what if a few people had gone missing? They left us, didn't they? Maybe we should leave them alone.

I could barely stand anymore, let alone think about moving as the creature slowly inched closer . . .

* * *

**Steve**

"Stupid little green men from Mars!" I muttered to myself as I got up. I was just about to go for the sole Poke Ball by my side when I noticed Marle was just standing still with a vacant look on her face. I'd seen something like that before; she looked like someone being hypnotised by a psychic.

"Hey!" I said I grabbed her arm and tried to yank her to cover behind her Ninetales' Light Screen. She stood transfixed and started to lean heavily to one side. I paused, swearing inwardly, then picked her up by the waist and made for the Ninetales. She kept staring on even as the strange phaser-like blasts flashed around us. I traced her gaze and finally realized she was staring at an alien that was closing in on us.

"Break . . . eye . . . contact!" I said slowly, trying to maneuver her to face the other direction. But her face and eyes remained stubbornly opposed to it.

Her Ninetales saw the approaching alien and growled threateningly. I sighed in exasperation and covered her eyes with my right hand. With my left hand, I flicked my wrist and gave the alien the finger, careful not to make eye contact myself. Her Ninetales suddenly lunged . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

My eyes searched round the room for a place to hide. There were only a few places - upstairs, downstairs or behind the equipment. I took the upstairs option. I ran up and noticed that there were two ways to go, through a locked door or through another doorway.

I sent out Spook and Wiggles (my Wigglytuff). "Spook, look through the door to see if there are any of those things!" I ordered. She disappeared through the door and soon reappeared, nodding to tell me it was safe. "Wiggles, use Strength to smack the lock!" I said to my Wigglytuff.

Wiggles smashed the lock and the door swung open. Spook had been right; There was nothing in here, not even a light. I heard someone running up the stairs. I was going to shut the door when I heard Steve shout out: "Let us in!"

I reopened the door as he ran into the very dark room with someone draped over his shoulder.

* * *

**Katie**

I saw Steve running with something slung over his shoulder and, when I got close enough to see what it was, I immediately realised it was Marle. She seemed to be passed out for some reason, but I couldn't tell why and I didn't have time to find out. I had to find Maxine and her Torchic.

Steeling myself, I released all my Pokemon at once so they could help me. I sent Ledian to fly on ahead, telling her to report back if she found anything, while Ponyta, Raichu and Bellossom did what they could to protect me. Ponyta's Fire Attacks were really strong, Raichu could use powerful Electric Attacks and Bellossom . . . Well, Bellossom might not be very strong for a fully evolved Pokemon, but she did know Sleep Powder and that was always a handy move to have. Except, I'd never expected to need it under these circumstances . . .

Anyway, Ponyta trotted alongside me while Bellossom rode on my shoulder and Raichu ran ahead. As we ran up the stairs, I heard Rally calling out to me to "stay with the others", but I ignored it and carried on up the spiral staircase with my Pokemon. Maxine might need me even now. I couldn't let her down.

It was as I was making my way through what usually served as the cafeteria that I felt it, a sharp pain in my head as if something was probing my brain. In the same instant, I saw it - Maxine secured to a table by her wrists and ankles while three of these things hovered over her like menacing shadows. I could see the fear in her eyes as they lowered a strange device towards her face . . .

"Maxine!" I yelled as, forgetting everything except what I had just seen (or imagined) I ran across the deserted cafeteria, knocking aside litter bins as I did so. Ponyta and Raichu were hot on my heels as I ran on, the image of my sister on that table dominating my mind. I had to get Maxine out before these things did something horrible to her, but I had no idea where to start looking and, even now, it might already be too late.

"No!" I told myself, dismissing the thought even as it occurred to me. "It's a trick by the Invaders. It's got to be - if I was psychic, I'd know by now."

Then, Ledian came winging back and beckoned to me. I followed her and found . . . Maxine waiting for me, clutching her Torchic and looking completely normal. I returned my Pokemon and went to hug her.

"Maxine! Thank goodness you're safe! Don't ever wander off like that again - it's dangerous with these things here," I told her, not sure whether or not I should scold her for making me worry.

"Sorry, Katie," she said. "Let's get back to the others." She reached out to touch me and, as she did so, I noticed something strange about her left hand. It was glowing with a purple light.

But I had no time to wonder what it was since we had to get back to the others quickly. I retraced my steps towards where I had last seen the others, but there was no sign of them.

Then, I noticed a Misdreavus drifting around outside a door and remembered that Vicky had a Misdreavus she called Spook. Was this the same Misdreavus or had another Misdreavus been left behind in the building the way Maxine's Torchic had been? Although I didn't know why, something told me it was the former.

And, moments later, Olivia flung open the door. "Katie and Maxine, in here!" she called.

In response, Maxine and I ran into the room and found ourselves plunged into darkness. "Er . . . does anyone have a torch?" I asked sheepishly. The light on Maxine's hand glowed faintly, but it wasn't enough to let us see each other clearly and I could hear some of the younger kids whimpering in the dark.

"No, but my Togetic knows Flash," said Olivia.

"Well, why don't you use it!" Rally's voice snapped from somewhere nearby.

* * *

**Vicky**

I blocked my eyes from the light as Olivia's Togetic used Flash. Even though I hadn't been able to see anything because it was pitch black, I had got used to the darkness.

When my eyes had finally adjusted to the light, Marle, who was now conscious, looked around. "Wow! It's a computer room!" she said.

She was right. There were lots of computer in rows, all connected up to the plugs. I walked over to one and switched it on. "What are you doing!" Lizzie exclaimed. To be truthful, I wasn't exactly sure myself. I had often watched my brother try and hack into the Goldenrod High School website and mess it up. It drove them crazy.

Like my brother, I could quite easily use any computer and I soon found the map of the three levels - the first one with the aliens, the one we were on and the one above. "Maybe, just maybe," I thought to myself as I furiously tapped away at the computer.

"Yes!" I called out as a thermal sensor came up. On the level below us. All the aliens showed up as white on the screen. There were also some moving around on the level above. Where we were, there were many red, orange and yellow shapes, which was obviously us. But, in the middle of us, I saw a small purple shape. I looked at it curiously.

"Does anyone know what that is?" I asked.

* * *

**Katie**

"Does anyone know what what is?" I asked as I edged over to Vicky.

"That," she said, pointing to the mysterious purple form on the screen.

I had no idea and told her so. I could count one thermal image for every human in the room plus Maxine's Torchic and, with the purple one included, there were more thermal images than there were lifeforms to make them.

Then, William spoke up. "Maybe there's something invisible in here," he said. "Does anyone have a Pokemon that knows Foresight or something so we can see what it is?"

We all looked at each other. In the end, it was a small girl named Donna (who happened to be Allan's kid sister) who reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poke Ball. "Hoothoot, go! Use your Foresight!" she called.

The Hoothoot's eyes glowed as it scanned the area, but, no matter how hard it tried it couldn't seem to find anything. "Weird," said Lizzie. "I've never known a Foresight to fail before."

There were no two ways about it - we were in trouble.


	4. Chapter Four

**

Chapter Four

**

Katie

Donna sighed and recalled her Hoothoot. "No good," she sighed. "I guess whatever it is, it's got the ability to block a Pokemon's Foresight."

"Which STILL doesn't help us figure out what it IS," Rally pointed out. "And that worries me . . ."

It worried me as well. As far as I knew we, a bunch of kids with no-one among us older than nineteen years old, were the only ones left in Goldenrod City. We were the only ones who could do anything about these aliens, but what could we do if we didn't even know what their plans were?

"If one of those things comes in and finds us, we've had it," Marle was saying. She kept a tight hold on one of her Poke Balls as she spoke. "We'd better get out before that happens."

"You're probably right," I admitted. "But we'd be running the gauntlet if we went out that door with those aliens out there and there aren't enough of us with a strong Flying Pokemon . . ." I broke off as I considered our options - stay and fight an enemy we knew next to nothing about or try to escape and risk getting caught?

"Al could 'port us," Jewel piped up at length, holding up the Poke Ball that contained her father's Alakazam.

I looked down at her, wondering why I hadn't thought of it myself. If we could Teleport out of here, the aliens wouldn't be able to stop us - in theory. "I think that's probably the best plan we've got," I said. "Jewel, release your father's Alakazam and tell it to use Teleport. The rest of you, get ready."

I had never Teleported using a Pokemon before, but I had been told that you had to maintain physical contact with the Pokemon while doing so. So I told Jewel to hold onto the Alakazam, while I held her free hand and we all held each other's hands to form a human chain. Then, we held our breath and waited . . .

Less than a second later, we were outside the Radio Tower, in what seemed to be a park. There was a sign nearby with the words:

_ENTER THE BUG CATCHING CONTEST  
Catch a prize Bug Pokemon and win a Sun Stone  
Plus runners-up prizes of Everstones, Gold Berries and Berries  
See the Park Warden for times_

printed on it. This told me that we were in the National Park.

"OK, what now?" asked Vicky.

"We take a look round and make sure there aren't any aliens lurking nearby," I said with a sideways glance at Maxine. Little did I realise that the strange life force we had seen on the thermal imaging camera was in fact attached to her . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

"We could get out of here!" I thought to myself. But then I remembered what William said about his friend getting frazzled in the forcefield. I shuddered as I imagined myself getting completely burnt to a crisp.

"We should look around for other . . ." I paused to think of what to say next as the temptation was to say people. " . . . Pokemon," I added finally. This confused most people, so I shrugged my shoulders and walked off to look around the area.

* * *

**Matt**

As I sat in silence, I heard other people coming so I got lower behind the bush I was behind and held my Poke Ball in my hand. My only Pokemon, a Kadabra, was ready inside, waiting to attack. I simply sat, hoping that it was humans I was about to be found by.

* * *

**Katie**

We decided it was time we gave our Pokemon some battling practice in preparation for what lay ahead. I sat watching as Marle's Persian, Kita, battled Donna's Delcatty - both Pokemon seemed fairly evenly matched and their trainers had obviously raised them well. This could go on for a long time, I thought as I turned to watch my Bellossom and Rally's Chikorita playing in the bushes.

"Delcatty, Dig!" I heard Donna command. I whipped round just in time to see her Delcatty disappearing into a hole in the ground. Kita looked confused, clearly wondering where the Delcatty was, and Marle looked as though she was franticly trying to think of a move that could keep the Persian safe from the Dig Attack. But there aren't that many moves that can counter Dig and, as far as I remembered, none of those that were could be learned by a Persian.

Before Marle could think of anything, Donna's Delcatty popped up out of the ground - directly in front of Kita. "OK, Delcatty," Donna said. "Ice Beam Attack!"

When fired from such close range, the Ice Beam was powerful enough to send Kita flying several feet to land in a crumpled heap. Marle promptly ran over to her Pokemon and stroked her cream fur. "Kita, get up!" she pleaded. But, even though the Persian licked her trainer's hand, the Ice Beam had clearly taken a lot out of her.

"Marle's Persian is unable to battle!" called William, who had been refereeing the bout. "Donna and Delcatty win!"

"You did your best, Kita," Marle said as she recalled her Persian.

Next, Steve stood up and pulled out a Poke Ball. "Right!" he declared. "Who feels like trying their luck against my Arcanine?"

"I will," I said as I stood to face him and readied my Ponyta's Poke Ball. "Go, Ponyta!" Two flashes of light followed and my Ponyta and Steve's Arcanine stood facing each other, squaring up for battle. For a moment, I felt a pang of nostalgia for the days before these aliens showed up and I often battled my four Pokemon against those of passing trainers . . .

"Stop it!" I told myself. "Focus on what you're supposed to be doing!" Once I had collected my thoughts together, I called on Ponyta to launch her first Attack.

"Ponyta, Flamethrower!" I ordered, watching as she threw back her head and sent a jet of hot flames in the direction of the Arcanine.

"Arcanine, fight fire with fire!" Steve countered. "Use your Flamethrower!" And his Arcanine also let fly with a jet of flames - they seemed to be more powerful than Ponyta's and started pushing hers back.

"Don't give up, Ponyta!" I called. "Use your Agility!"

Just as Arcanine's Flamethrower was about to overwhelm Ponyta's, she smartly nipped to one side and stood pawing at the ground with her hoof. "Now, Take Down!" I ordered, watching as she began to gallop towards Arcanine with her head hung low.

At that moment, I was alerted by a sound in the bushes . . .

* * *

**Matt**

I cursed myself for moving, even though I was VERY uncomfortable. I stood up to see who I had had the luck of meeting.

At least they were human so I walked out from the bushes. "Nice to meet you. I'm Matt," I said as I held my hand out to shake.

* * *

**Vicky**

I watched from the back as everyone talked to this mysterious guy. I wondered off, my mind casting back to my life before the aliens. I was really beginning to miss my family, including my annoying brother.

I had given up on the theory that we had something the aliens couldn't detect; I guessed we were just lucky. I looked over to the exit to Ecruteak City and was trying to think what was happening to the people who lived there. Had the aliens captured them too, or was life continuing as normal?

"I wish I had never been left behind!" I shouted. When everyone turned around and looked at me, I blushed bright red, before kicking up some stones and dirt. I needed some company so I pulled out Wiggles Poke Ball. I watched as Wiggles formed and called out its usual cheerful call.

"Hi, Wiggles!" I said to him. I bent down a hugged the marshmellow-like Pokemon. "I'm sure you're related to a marshmellow, Wiggles. Are you sure you're not?"

"Wigglytuff!" he said, shaking his head. I grabbed my other Poke Balls and sent out Bubbles (my Marill), Spook and Dotty (my Ditto). I smiled as I watched them play together.

* * *

**Katie**

Although none of us spoke of it much, we all missed the families we had lost. When I heard Vicky shouting about how she "wished she had never been left behind", I understood how she felt. Why, I asked myself, had the aliens taken all the adults and left a bunch of kids?

I walked over to Vicky as she watched her Misdreavus, Marill, Wigglytuff and Ditto playing together. Dotty the Ditto was making the other three Pokemon laugh by using its Transform ability to pose as each of them in turn. Vicky was smiling, but her eyes seemed wistful.

"Vicky?" I ventured, unsure whether or not I should intrude.

She looked round. "Oh, Katie," she said. "I was just wondering how things are outside Goldenrod. D'you think the others towns and cities in Johto have been invaded too?"

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "And we don't have any way of finding out. So all we can do is . . ."

I was cut off abruptly by the deafening sound of a spacecraft taking off from somewhere nearby. We all screwed our eyes up tightly as a huge craft zoomed into the sky and disappeared from sight.

"Hey!" said Steve. "How come that thing got through?"

I knew what he was talking about, knew how the forcefield that currently surrounded Goldenrod had caused his plane to crash. So why could the aliens come and go as they pleased? "They must be able to deactivate that forcefield somehow," I suggested. "And, if they can do it, so can we. All we need to do is find out where they're powering it from . . ."

It was probably the most risky thing we had done to date. But, as I looked round at everyone - Marle, Lizzie, Maxine, Vicky, Jewel, Rally, William, Olivia, Allan, Steve, Donna, Matt and all the rest - I knew we had to do it.

* * *

**Vicky**

We were back on the move, but, this time, I would say we were drifting aimlessly. As far as we knew, the aliens could be powering the forcefield from space. Sure, it would be a long way, but we didn't know what these aliens were capable of . . .

An idea popped into my head. The interference with all the electrical devices and those lights in the sky must mean something. I once again began to think, but I was disturbed as I realised that we had arrived back in Goldenrod. "So, where should we look first?" Lizzie asked.

At that moment, I just wanted to be anywhere the aliens weren't.

* * *

**Matt**

I simply followed everyone else for the time being. I knew I could help when a fight came up, but I wasn't very helpful when nothing was going on. I needed action to keep my life exciting. I was weird like that.

* * *

**Marle**

After witnessing the take-off of the alien craft, we wandered semi-aimlessly, hoping that something would occur that could clue us in to where in the world we were supposed to be going. Some help Jewel, Rally, and I were; I hadn't sensed anything at all since our earlier encounter with the aliens.

I frowned with concern at Firestorm's labored breathing. She was limping along beside me, trying not to let her injuries slow her down too much, but I knew she was afraid of being left behind. I had tried to recall her into her Poke Ball earlier, but she had actually growled at me and leapt out of the red beam.

"Firestorm doesn't look so good."

I jumped as Steve appeared next to me abruptly. "No," I agreed, regaining my composure. "I tried to get her to return to her Pokeball, but she refuses. I don't know what else to do - I don't have any healing supplies with me."

Steve looked thoughtful for a minute, raising one eyebrow. "I think I may know what's wrong," he muttered after a moment. "Firestorm, are you refusing to return to your Poke Ball because you want to protect Marle?"

My eyes widened in surprise as the Ninetales nodded seriously. "How do you expect to protect her when you're injured?" Steve continued. Firestorm started to growl but seemed to consider his words, only looking worriedly at me instead. "Don't worry." he smiled at the Pokemon. "Marle can call out one of her other Pokemon if that makes you feel better. I'll be watching out for her as well." I barely noticed that Firestorm had entered her Poke Ball, thanks to the furious blush rising in my cheeks. What in the world was wrong with me? Why was I so embarrassed all of a sudden?

Swallowing nervously and trying to calm my racing heartbeat, I numbly grabbed Shadow's Poke Ball and released the Umbreon, who immediately started scouting the area for any potential threats.

"Umm . . . thanks," I muttered shyly.

"No prob," he said. "Thanks for uh . . .you know, back there. You saved my life."

"B - but, you saved mine next!"

"Then let's call it even, shall we?" He grinned and started walking again to catch up with the group. Shaking my head, I followed close behind.

* * *

**Katie**

Marle and Steve were the last ones to arrive back at the building we had selected for our base. Everyone else was inside already and we were all sitting in a circle discussing the day's events.

As soon as they entered, we cleared a space for them to sit down. We had plans to discuss and aliens to fight. For the sake of the younger kids - I glanced at Jewel, who was stroking her mother's Espeon - we had to deal with this menace.

But first we had to figure out what the aliens were planning and that could take a while. There was also another problem; Firestorm, Marle's Ninetales was injured, hurt in a previous run-in with these creatures, and Marle didn't have any Potions with her.

"I wish I knew what to do," she sighed as she looked down at her Ninetales lying on the floor.

"Me too," I told her. "We could probably patch Firstorm up, but . . ." I sighed and knelt to ruffle Firestorm's fur in the way she liked. "Where's Nurse Joy when you need her!" I cursed out loud. Then, an idea occured to me - what if some of us took Firestorm to the Pokemon Center and treated her ourselves?

"But none of us knows how to operate the Healing Machine," Marle objected when I put this idea to her.

"We can try," I said. "How hard can it be?"

I could see Marle still wasn't sure, but there didn't seem to be many alternatives right now - with all the adults including Nurse Joy gone, we had to deal with situations like this ourselves. "OK," she conceded. "But we'd better take those guns we . . . acquired and someone had better stay behind to . . ."

"And what if the aliens show up while we're gone?" I asked. "I'd think it would be better if we all go - including the younger kids."

So, five minutes later, we all left the building and headed for the Pokemon Centre. Tension pervaded among us as we all kept a careful eye out for any lurking aliens. Never before had a simple thing like a trip to the Pokemon Centre been fraught with such danger . . .

What did these things want with our city? And why had Maxine's hand been glowing with that purple light since our visit to the Radio Tower? And what had caused me to have that vision I had while I was there?

There were so many mysteries, but our current priority was getting to the Pokemon Centre without running into trouble.

* * *

**Vicky**

I never thought I'd be saying this when almost everyone in Goldenrod and possibly beyond were in danger, but I felt stupid. Walking along the streets of Goldenrod in the biggest group of kids you've ever seen just made me feel like a complete idiot. I don't know why, but maybe it was because I never usually walked around in any group of more than five of six.

We soon arrived at the Pokemon Center, where the burnt doors still just clinging to their hinges. Getting behind the desk took about two seconds as I got Wiggles to break the lock with Strength.

"Lets see - how do we work this thing?" Katie said as everyone, except the younger children, crowded round the machine.

"Maybe it's the green button," William suggested.

Marle placed her Poke Ball in the indent where it had to go and Katie pushed the green button . . .

* * *

**Matt**

Then the Poke Ball disappeared. "what the . . .?" I murmured as we all watched in shock.

"Where's Firestorm!" Marle yelled. We went on a full-scale search through the building.

* * *

**Marle**

"FIRESTORM!" My voice cracked and tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. I took off running without listening to a word any of the others were saying, releasing Jewel as I ran.

The Espeon appeared at my side. _"What's happening?"_ she asked.

I shook my head in answer. "No time or energy to explain," I said. "Find Firestorm."

Her eyes widened momentarily, but her pace never slackened. A moment later, she changed direction abruptly, dashing down a side hallway. _"The third room on the left!"_ she thought.

I turned the knob, threw the door open and dashed inside. I froze, a gasp dying on my lips. The room was completely filled with Poke Balls. "Holy . . . shit!" I murmured, blinking rapidly. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Jewel questioningly.

She almost seemed to sigh. _"Sorry, I can't pick Firestorm's Poke Ball out from all the others - their auras are too distracting."_

I answered with a sigh of my own. "Well, we'd better get to looking then, hadn't we?" I said.

_"You can't mean . . .?"_

I'd already started searching through the piles of Poke Balls and that was how the others found me. After I had explained briefly, all the while opening Poke Balls and releasing random Pokemon, they joined in the search. Of course, for some reason that will forever remain a mystery, Firestorm's Poke Ball was one of the last ones in the room we checked. She appeared in a flash of light, completely healed. I dropped to my knees and hugged her tightly.

"Firestorm!" I cried. "I'm so happy - you're healed too! Lucky the Pokemon Center heals Pokemon when it puts them into its storage system . . ."

"Umm . . . sorry to interrupt this touching scene, but we have a slight problem."

I glanced up to meet Katie's gaze. "What?" I asked.

Steve gestured around the room. "We now have a room full of Pokemon - and they're not leaving," he said. "What should we do with them?"

"We should release them," I replied.

"We could always . . . take some of them."

"We can't do that!" I objected. "They're not ours!"

"Well, it doesn't look like their owners are coming back anytime soon, does it?" Steve pointed out. "We could just borrow them, if that makes you feel better."

"We have to do something if we're going to attack those lowlife aliens," Katie added.

The arguments continued for some time . . .


	5. Chapter Five

**

Chapter Five

**

Katie

The idea of taking a Pokemon that didn't belong to me was not one I was particularly happy with. But, as Steve said, the way things stood now, it didn't look as though their rightful trainers would be back any time soon. Even so, I couldn't help feeling a slight pang of guilt as I grabbed a couple of Poke Balls at random - I half-expected to see a red R appear on my top . . .

It was this more than anything that brought home to me how much our lives had changed, how much the presence of the aliens had altered everything. I only hoped that, whatever Pokemon I had just acquired would be able to handle whatever lay in store. As soon as we got back to where we were based, I opened all my Poke Balls.

Soon, Ponyta, Raichu, Bellossom and Ledian stood in front of me like a quartet of loyal bodyguards. Then I opened the Poke Balls I had taken from the Pokemon Center . . .

The first one proved to be a handsome Golduck and that pleased me since I'd heard how powerful a Golduck could be. It was hard to believe something so graceful and elegant could evolve from that rather clueless Pokemon called Psyduck. I just hoped I would be able to handle a Golduck that didn't officially belong to me.

Then I opened the other Poke Ball and a Skitty popped out looking bewildered and lost. I felt a pang of sympathy for the little creature and reached down to cuddle it. "It's all right, no need to be frightened," I whispered soothingly. "Your trainer's . . . gone away so I'm going to look after you for a while." At least I hoped it would only be for a while . . .

But who knew what was happening anymore? Was the Skitty's original trainer (and the Golduck's if it came to that) even still alive?

We decided to head back to the National Park and put the Pokemon we had acquired through their paces. As we walked, I tried to recall what Attacks a Golduck and a Skitty could learn - no-one else in the group had a Golduck or a Psyduck and I hadn't been paying much attention when Donna was battling with her Delcatty . . .

My thoughts were cut off by the sudden appearence of a glowing orb like the one that appeared on the night before all this started. We all panicked, wanting to run but knowing there was nowhere to run to. Jewel and Maxine were clinging to me and I could feel both their hearts hammering away as Maxine's Torchic huddled deep in her arms.

"Oh my God!" gasped Matt as he stood dumbstruck, his hand clutching his Kadabra's Poke Ball.

* * *

**Matt**

I hadn't taken any Pokemon; I had always had my Kadabra and always would. And, when that orb appeared, I was ready with my trusted friend in my hand, to jump into action at any moment.

* * *

**Vicky**

I held onto the quivering Magby as it snuggled into my arms. I remembered these lights from when it all began and still half-expected a group of show people to jump out and say it was the new show in town. Of course, that never happened.

The other Pokemon, a Scyther, instantly went back into its Poke Ball as soon as the lights appeared and I had told my other Pokemon to do the same. Unfortunately, the Magby was too frightnened to go back in and had to stay outside with me.

I stared at the lights for what seemed like a very long time. As I stared at them, time and space felt like they were passing me by. I ws still aware of everything as I could tell that the Magby remained in my arms, but . . . I just can't explain it. I noticed that the lights began to disappear. Or was everything going black around me?

I just don't know. I do know that everything around me eventually disappeared into blackness.

* * *

**Katie**

We must have all blacked out at the same time because the next thing I remember is finding myself lying on the ground with two of my Poke Balls clutched in my hand.

"Wh - what happened?" I groaned as I struggled to sit up. The lights were still hovering menacingly over us and I would have called out one of my Pokemon, but I didn't seem to have the energy to throw a Poke Ball. Besides, I wasn't about to risk them against the aliens . . .

Around me, I could see the others beginning to stir and was suddenly aware of the fact that Jewel and Maxine were clinging to me. The purple glow on the latter's hand was now more instense than ever. It hurt me to look at it and I began to wonder what these aliens had done to my sister.

We were totally transfixed, powerless to get away, as we were suddenly caught up in a large blue beam of light that levitated us into the air. Donna, who was afraid of heights, screamed and I wished there was some way to get down.

Was this what had happened to our parents?

* * *

**Matt**

I couldn't even move my mouth to ask what was going on. The blue light completely encompassed all of us. My Poke Ball still clutched in my hand, I prepared for the worst.

* * *

**Katie**

Suddenly, we found ourselves in a vast metallic room lined with panels that had flashing lights on them.

"Where are we?" Lizzie asked, her normally confident voice trembling slightly as she clutched her Poke Balls.

"I don't like this!" whimpered Jewel, clinging to me as we all looked around in confusion. I stroked her hair soothingly, wondering as I did so what lay in store for us now.

"I don't know what this place is," Allan said at length. "But I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with the Invaders and we'd . . ."

" . . . better find a way out fast," I concluded, guessing what he was going to say.

The only question was - how would we escape?

* * *

**Matt**

I released Kadabra and had him search around for a door, but he couldn't come up with one.

"Kadabra could try to Teleport us out," I said. "But it would take a lot of energy . . ." I let my voice trail off.

* * *

**Vicky**

I would usually have jumped at the chance to get out of here, but what was the point in getting away again? "No, we'd best save Kadabra's energy in case we get into trouble and really do need to get out of here," I said.

I got a few shocked looks, but most poeple saw the sense in what I said. "Vicky's right," Katie said. "We were going to try and find the power source before we got here. So let's get looking!"

Most people turned to Steve. After all, he was a student pilot and knew the most about flying machines.

* * *

**Katie**

"This is more complex than anything I've ever flown," Steve said. "But I'll give it my best shot."

"Let's try to find the power source first," I added cautiously. I knew whichever option we chose was bound to be dangerous, but looking for the power source seemed marginally safer than trying to fly what was obviously a spacecraft when none of us knew much about such things. Some of the boys had harboured a longing to find themselves in an alien spaceship, but this wasn't some sci-fi film. This was real life . . .

"Where's the power source likely to be?" Marle mused.

I shrugged - I didn't know any more than she did, but I knew we wouldn't get anywhere unless we started looking. "OK," I said, glancing round at everyone. "We'd better keep together and have our strongest Pokemon ready to back us up. There's no telling what we'll find in here . . ." I released Ponyta and decided to keep the Golduck I had brought from the Pokemon Centre in reserve in case something happened to my loyal fire horse.

Steve let out his Arcanine. Then, William and Allan released a Golem and an Ekans respectively. Marle let out Firestorm, who was now completely healed and stood swishing her nine silken tails. Then, Rally called out her Espeon. But, before any of the others could summon a Pokemon, something strange happened.

Maxine's hand glowed brightly and, with an oddly intense expression on her face, she pointed down a nearby corridor. "That way," she told us.

"What?" I asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

"That way," Maxine repeated. "That's where the power source is."

"How do you know?" Lizzie asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, it's the only clue we've got so I guess we'd better chance it," I said, cutting her off before she could make any further objections. Just because Maxine was only nine years old didn't mean she couldn't help us in any way.

* * *

**Vicky**

We all walked down the corridor which was supposed to lead us to the power source. I wasn't sure about Maxine, but something was telling me to go along with this, but what worried me was that somewhere in my mind, this made sense.

We soon arrived at the end of a corridor, which was a dead end. But it was no ordinary dead end. Have you ever wondered what alien controls look like? Well, I wasn't one of these people who liked to watch the stars at night and wonder if there were little green men living on Mars, so it wasn't that it was wrong to my imagination. It was just a shock. The wall seemed to be covered in a layer of liquid purple light. "There must be more," I thought to myself in confusion.

"Where's the rest!" I heard someone exclaim.

"Maybe it's hidden behind this stuff," someone else said.

* * *

**Katie**

"Well, how the hell are we supposed to get to it!" Allan demanded.

"I don't know," I said honestly, instinctively standing well clear of the strange liquid light. Whatever substance it was made from, if it had anything to do with the Invaders, it was bound to mean trouble for us. I wondered if a Pokemon might be able to break through with an Attack, but which ones should we use?

"We'll try Electric Attacks first," suggested Rally as she released her Pikachu, Tiger, and I released my Raichu. The two electric mice tried with all their might to blast through that stuff, but it simply wasn't working and I could see they were only succeeding in exhausting themselves . . .

"Return!" Rally and I called simultaneously as we put our Pokemon back in their Poke Balls. Next, my Ponyta and the other Fire Types tried their Attacks, but they didn't have much luck either. And nor did the Water Pokemon (including the Golduck I had brought from the Pokemon Centre) when we got them to try.

"Ice Attacks," said Lizzie as we stood staring at that wall with increasing frustration. "We'll try freezing that stuff and maybe we'll be able to break through it." Recalling having seen a Golduck use Ice Beam in battle once, I left mine (I was already starting to think of him and Skitty as belonging to me) out and Vicky did likewise with her Marill, Bubbles. Donna let out her Delcatty and the three of us stood facing that seemingly inpenetrable barrier.

"Ice Beam Attack!" we called. And Golduck, Bubbles and Delcatty tried as hard as they could, blasting the barrier with powerful beams of ice. But, after around five minutes, it was still standing and we knew time was running out. If we didn't get away soon, there was every risk we could get caught.

"Forget it and let's get out of here!" Olivia said urgently, clutching her Togetic's Poke Ball to her chest.

"Never!" Steve shot back. "Not until we've shut that forcefield down!"

"Yeah, but how do you proposed we do that?" asked Marle. "We've tried Electric Attacks, Fire Attacks, Water Attacks and Ice Attacks! And nothing can get through that barrier. Face it, guys, we're stumped." She sat down on the floor and looked morosely at two of her Poke Balls.

"Maybe not," I said. "Marle, you have an Espeon, don't you? And so do Rally and Jewel."

"So?" asked Jewel, curious to know what I was getting at.

"So, Espeons are Psychic Pokemon," I replied. "And I was thinking that a Psychic Attack might be what we need here . . ."

"Maybe you're right," Jewel admitted as she held the Poke Ball containing her mother's Espeon, Ruby. "Al could help too," she added as she pulled out the Ball that held her father's Alakazam.

"And so could my Kadabra," added Matt as he readied his one Poke Ball.

Marle, Matt and Jewel made ready to call their Psychic Pokemon, but, before they could do so, I spotted Maxine out of the corner of my eye. She was walking towards the barrier with a strange expression on her face. I panicked - what chance did an unarmed kid have against whatever that thing was made of?

"Maxine! Get away from there!" I yelled. But it was too late; she was already touching the substance. Then, as we watching speechlessly, the barrier seemed to melt away.

Now, we could get through. But what would we find on the other side? There was only one way to find out . . .

I didn't know how Maxine had managed to melt that barrier, but we had to find out what lay beyond it. So, moving cautiously, we stepped forward.

What we found was something that looked like a computer (for want of a better term), but a quick glance at it told me this was not just your ordinary PC. Lights flashed on and off in sequence as we stood staring at the technological marvel lining the wall. I wondered how much data it could contain.

"Guys," Steve said, gesturing towards the computer, "I think this is it . . ."

"What?" I asked, not entirely sure what he meant.

"Where they've been powering the forcefield," Steve replied. "And we need to figure out a way to shut it off."

If we can even figure out how it works, I added silently. This looked far more complicated than any computer I'd ever seen and what were the odds that we would accidentally trigger some sort of self-destruct sequence if we pressed the wrong button? But I also knew we had to at least try.

"Let's get going then," I said. "Marle, William and Rally, stand guard - let us know if you hear anything. Lizzie, Steve, Vicky, Matt and I will work on this. The rest of you, keep back and make sure the younger kids don't wander off."

This was a risky operation, but we had to try. Maxine, Jewel and the other young kids deserved better than having to constantly run from these aliens. They need to be free to leave Goldenrod and, once they were old enough, go on Pokemon journeys if they wanted to.

* * *

**Vicky**

Although I was pretty good with computers, I didn't think I could work out the first part.

"So how are we supposed to work this out?" Lizzie asked as we all stood round the computer.

"Er . . . does anyone know how we're meant to work out the sequence if we don't have anything to type into?" I asked, looking around for a keyboard or something. As we all did so, Matt's hand drifted over the screen and revealed a selection of buttons in different colours. We now knew how to work out the sequence, but actually getting the sequence was going to be a lot harder.

* * *

**Katie**

"Oh great!" I groaned at the sight of that screen. "How are we supposed to solve this!"

"Let's try several combinations," suggested William. "That way, we'll probably hit the right one sooner or later."

"Maybe . . ." Lizzie admitted from where she stood clutching the Poke Balls containing her Wooper and Skiploom. "Or maybe we'll trigger an alarm or something the second we type in a wrong combination."

"Still," added Steve, gesturing towards that screen with its coloured buttons, "we can't hang around here forever so I guess we'd better try something . . ." With that, he moved his hand towards a red "button", but, before he could touch it, Maxine yelled at him to stop.

"No! The red buttons will set the alarm off!" she shouted. I stared at her in amazement, wondering how on Earth she could know. Surely it was too much of a coincidence that red should mean danger to these aliens as well as us. Even so, it was probably safer not to take chances.

"OK," I said. "Forget the red ones. But that still leaves us with the problem of figuring out which ones we _should_ touch." Not only that, we had to work out the sequence as well and, even without the red "buttons", there were God only knew how many possible combinations.

This was going to take some time . . .

* * *

**Matt**

"The blue?" I asked Kadabra as his eyes glowed. "OK. Try the blue button - Kadabra's getting something from it," I said to everyone else.

* * *

**Katie**

Gingerly, I reached towards one of the blue buttons and touched it with my finger. I waited with baited breath, half expecting to hear an alarm go off, but the only thing that happened was the blue buttons disappeared off the screen.

Now we had to work out which colour we should try next and a mistake could have serious consequences. I turned to Matt. "Is your Kadabra getting any feelings about the other buttons?" I asked.

Matt put this question to his Kadabra, who nodded and pointed to one of the green buttons. As I reached towards it, I began to wonder what we would find if we did manage to shut down this forcefield. Were the other towns and cities in Johto carrying on as normal or had they been invaded too? And what about the rest of the world? I had a penfriend over in Hoenn and I longed to know if she was all right.

* * *

**Vicky**

Slowly but surely, Kadabra told Matt the combination and Katie pushed the buttons. I really wanted this forcefield down and I desperately wanted to know what had happened to my family. Were they safe? Or was I . . .?

Even in my mind I didn't want to say it. "I have to stay positive," I told myself. "If I don't, I'll stop bothering at all."

Katie pushed the buttons and we watched as they all disappeared, leaving only the red ones. These didn't fade away; they swirled together to form a blob on the screen. "Do we have to push that?" I asked, wondering if this was all we had to do. Matt once again turned to Kadabra for the answer.

* * *

**Katie**

"Kadabra, do we need to push that blob?" asked Matt.

"Kadabra," his Kadabra said, pointing to the blob and shaking his head.

"Well then . . . what!" I demanded. I glanced round at the others, hoping against hope that they would know what I was supposed to do next. We all wanted that forcefield down so we could find out what had happened to the people the aliens had taken. Part of me was afraid it wouldn't be bad news, but the rest of me wanted to know because, at least then, we wouldn't have to live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not our families were safe . . .

"I think I can touch it."

It was Maxine, who stepped forward with that oddly intent look on her face and raised her glowing hand to the blob on the screen. I wanted to pull her away, but something told me she would be all right touching that thing so I resisted the urged and just watched as she placed her hand on the blob.

The effect was instantaneous. A glowing light surrounded my sister and the whole place began to shake . . .

That's the last thing I remember before I woke up to find myself lying on the ground in the midst of the others. They were all coming around as well; Marle sat holding her head, while Lizzie rubbed her eyes and Jewel looked around in bewilderment. I blinked, sat up and took stock of my surroundings.

From the look of things, we were back in the National Park. Now, all I had to do was make sure the others were all right.

"Everybody OK?" I called as I staggered to my feet.

They all said they were fine. The next order of business was finding out if we had managed to shut down that forcefield.

* * *

**Matt**

I immediately called Kadabra, who had a major headache, into his Poke Ball. "Well, that was interesting," I stated bluntly. I started walking towards the exit. "Let's see if that field is dead, or if we just made the aliens angry."

* * *

**Katie**

"Wait!" I called as Matt walked towards the exit that led onto the Ecruteak City road. "We can't take chances! Let's throw something and see if it gets destroyed. If it does . . . well, we know what that means."

The question was what would we throw? We spent several minutes looking around in the grass before Lizzie came up with something, an empty Coke bottle. Normally, I hated litterbugs for spoiling the environment, but now I couldn't help feeling grateful to whoever had left it there.

"Will this do?" asked Lizzie as she handed me the bottle.

"Sure," I said. "Everyone, stand back!" I ordered the others as Marle, Steve and Lizzie tried to restrain some of the younger kids. "Give me room!" With that, I threw the bottle out through the gate. We all paused, half-expecting it to get blasted, but . . . nothing happened. The bottle just went through the gate and landed on the path beyond.

"I think it's safe now," I said cautiously.

* * *

**Matt**

"Well, where do we go now?" I asked.


	6. Chapter Six

**

Chapter Six

**

Vicky

"Well, I guess that walking to Ecruteak would be a good idea, just to see what's going on there," I answered, walking past the bottle.

Walking a lot had now become as easy to me as breathing. Of course walking itself is as easy as breathing when you're young, but long distances were something I was not used to. The longest distance I'd ever walked was to Olivine with my mum to visit my auntie when she was sick. But our car was broken and I complained almost the whole time as I was only seven.

It was nice to see life outside that forcefield. Everything still appeared to be normal; Ledian were silently flying though the air and Caterpies were shuffling amoung the leaves and grass. I just wondered if there would be the same peace in Ecruteak City.

* * *

**Matt**

I let Kadabra out, made sure he was feeling better and let him walk on his own for fresh air while we were heading to Ecruteak.

I hoped that people would be there, that only Goldenrod had been attacked. But then, why hadn't there been people - like the military - outside when we got out?

_"Don't worry,"_ Kadabra thought to me. _"Everything will be fine."_

I knew he was probably right, but I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he wasn't . . .

* * *

**Katie**

I too wondered what was happening in Ecruteak. If things were anything like they were back in Goldenrod, all the adults would have been taken by the aliens and the only people we would meet would be kids like us. For all we knew, every town and city in Johto had been all but emptied of its population in this way, but what was the purpose of that? Did the aliens plan to settle here? And what were they going to do with humans they had taken?

I simply didn't know, but what I did know was that, unless we could find help in Ecruteak, the odds were stacked against us. We were a bunch of kids facing an enemy we knew next to nothing about, except for the fact that they had taken our families . . . I broke off and stared back in the direction of Goldenrod.

"What's wrong, Katie?" asked Rally, noticing the wistful expression on my face.

"I was just thinking," I replied, looking down at Ponyta's Poke Ball as I spoke.

"Thinking? About what?"

"About . . . what's been happening lately. Whether things will ever get back to normal, that sort of stuff."

Rally looked at me solemnly. "Katie, I may be a psychic," she said, "but even I don't know for sure what's going to happen to us. The future is never certain until it becomes the present."

Right now, our present seemed to consist of us being the last free people from a once thriving city, twenty-odd kids who, by some miracle, had escaped the fate that had befallen the rest of the population. We had vowed to fight the aliens, but could we, young as we were, do anything against them? We ranged in age from Lizzie (the oldest at nineteen) to a couple of five-year-old boys - Jewel, who was just six, was the youngest girl - and the odds seemed insurmountable.

More as an excuse to occupy my mind than anything else, I went through everyone's ages in my head. Marle and Steve were both eighteen, I was seventeen, Allan and William were fifteen, Rally fourteen, Olivia, Matt and Vicky thirteen, Donna eleven, Maxine nine . . .

A sudden cloudburst interupted my thoughts as the rain started pelting down in torrents.

"Quick!" yelled Steve. "Get under cover!"

* * *

**Matt**

We found a small, abandoned shack a bit off the road to wait out the rain. "This doesn't help the hope of other people," I said, speaking of the empty shack. Then, realizing the effect this had on people, I added: "But this is an old shack. I doubt anyone lives here anymore."

* * *

**Katie**

We cautiously pushed the door open and entered the shack.

Matt was right - the place had clearly been abandoned long before the aliens came. Evidence of this was all around us in the layers of dust and a pile of twenty-year-old magazines on a low table. The windows were so covered with grime that we couldn't see anything out of them and the place was plunged into semi-darkness.

Marle clicked a lightswitch, but nothing happened. The light fitting above our heads hung there, useless. "There's no power," she told us. "Do any of you have a Pokemon that knows Flash so we can light this place up?"

Several of us did, myself included, but we knew whatever Pokemon we chose wouldn't be able to keeping Flashing indefinitely. Allan suggested having the Pokemon do the job in shifts, but Lizzie vetoed the idea, saying that they would still need to have their powers recharged and we didn't know how long we'd be stuck here for.

"What about candles?" suggested Rally.

"Yeah," agreed Vicky. "Every house should have a few candles in case of power cuts."

We began to search all over the shack, eventually finding a small box of candles in a cupboard. I took out a couple and stuck them in the vases on either side of the mantelpiece. Then, I placed them side by side on a table.

Now all we had to do was light them - unfortunately, none of us had any matches with us and there weren't any in the shack. "Could we use a Fire Pokemon?" asked Jewel. I agreed and mentally went through every Fire Type we had - my Ponyta, Rally's Charizard, Marle's Ninetales, Allan's Quilava and Vicky's Magby - before making my decision.

"Ponyta, go!" I called as I released my Ponyta from her Poke Ball. I held the wick of one of the candles against her flaming mane, waiting until it caught and started to burn with a bright orange flame before using it to light the other candle. Then, I put both candles down and recalled Ponyta.

"I think we're safe," Marle said, sitting down on the floor. "Well, as safe as we can be with all that rain out there - not to mention those aliens . . ."

* * *

**Vicky**

Now that we had proper light in the room - well, as much as you can get from a few candles - a few of us decided to have a look around.

It was obvious even before we had the light that this place had been abandoned for many years now. The dust was so thick that it would have taken many hours of scrubbing to get the place back to its former beauty, and I wasn't one of those people that would do that. I picked up one of the magazines and brushed off as much of the dust as possible.

The date on the magazine was before I was even born. How long had this place been abandoned - and why?

* * *

**Matt**

I also picked up one of the magazines. I wiped it off, leaned against a wall, which creaked in agony at the sudden push against it, and started reading in the little light we had.

Eventually, I drifted off into a fitful sleep . . .

* * *

**Katie**

I was sitting on the floor with Maxine beside me, listening to the sound of the storm blowing outside. The sound of thunder rumbling overhead and the flashes of lightning that we could see even through the grimy windows made me think of when I was Maxine's age and was scared during a storm. My mum had taught me to try do something to take my mind off it - singing, perhaps - and then I wouldn't be so scared.

"Are you all right?" I asked Maxine.

She nodded slightly and slipped her hand - the one that had been glowing with that purple light - into mine. "I think so," she said. "but . . ." She was cut off abruptly as a deafening clap of thunder boomed overhead. Terrified, she clung to me and started whimpering.

"Shh!" I whispered gently, stroking her hair the way our mum used to. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this was no ordinary storm; I had seen rain before but nothing like this. Was it another part of the aliens' plans to conquer our world?

Maxine's Torchic, who had been hopping around exploring the shack, presently joined us and perched herself on Maxine's lap. I held onto them until they fell asleep before trying to get some rest myself . . .

The next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of an ear-splitting shriek, the sound of a terrified child. I looked around with a start and realised to my horror that it was Maxine who had screamed. She seemed to be in some kind of trance, staring rigidly ahead and completely oblivious to all my attempts to rouse her.

Presently, the others woke up as well.

"What's going on?" asked Lizzie.

"Who screamed?" added Marle.

"Are the aliens coming back?" Jewel asked fearfully.

I knew the answer to Marle's question but not the ones to Lizzie's and Jewel's, so I didn't answer and waited until Maxine snapped out of her trance. She was pale and shaking, her hair clinging to her head, and I let her get her breath back before asking her what was going on.

"The . . . aliens!" she choked out. "The aliens . . . are . . . outside!"

We exchanged uneasy glances as we realised we would have to fight our way out. Even though the odds were against us, it was the only way.

I nodded decisively to the others. "OK, get your Poke Balls ready and come on," I said.

* * *

**Matt**

"Ok," I said, getting out Kadabra's Poke Ball.

* * *

**Katie**

I had my Poke Balls ready to fight. Since Ponyta and Golduck were my strongest Pokemon, they were the ones I would use first with Raichu ready for back-up in case anything happened to either of them. The Poke Balls containing Ledian, Bellossom and Skitty remained in my pocket, my second line of defence.

"Firestorm, I choose you!" I heard Marle call from beside me. Her Ninetales burst out of her Poke Ball and stood waving her tails. Seconds later, Firestorm was joined by a Umbreon named Shadow and an Espeon named Jewel, the same name as that kid we found on the first day.

Cautiously, we crept out of the shack. It seemed peaceful enough, but the quiet was deceptive and Firestorm could clearly sense this since she had started growling. "Quiet, Firestorm!" Marle warned, keeping a tight hold of the Ninetales.

"This is scary!" Maxine said, clinging to me as her Torchic hid behind her legs. I shrugged them off and prepared to release Ponyta and Golduck as three menacing figures loomed on the horizon.

* * *

**Vicky**

I picked out the Poke Balls containing Dotty, Wiggles, Bubbles, Spook and Scyther and let them all out. For the obvious reason that Magby was only a baby, I didn't let him out to fight. I also knew that sending a Ditto out untransformed was a pretty stupid idea, so I decided to add another Psychic Pokemon to the team. "Dotty, Transform into Alakazam!" I ordered.

Dotty looked over at Jewel's Alakazam as if it was getting ready to fight.

"No, Dotty, don't fight the Alakazam! Fight the aliens!" I knew that Dotty didn't completely understand this, but I couldn't stay there any longer as people were bravely walking outside.

* * *

**Matt**

Me and Kadabra stepped outside. The aliens were slowly coming closer.

Then they stopped. "Are they talking to each other?" I said to no-one in particular as they leaned towards each other.

Then they turned back to us, but they were running this time . . .

**Katie**

"It's now or never!" whispered Steve as he released his Arcanine. I followed suit with my Ponyta and Golduck, telling them to get ready to launch an Attack. The aliens were nearly upon us now and I wondered what it was that had drawn them towards us.

I did not have time to think about this, however, as we were about to launch into the battle of our lives. At least the older kids were - Maxine, Jewel and the other young kids had been told to keep well back, out of range of any potential danger. I hoped we would be able to chase our adversaries away so that we would have time to get to Ecruteak and find out what was happening there. At the very least, we had to try . . .

"Ponyta! Fire Blast!" I ordered, indicating the nearest alien. "Golduck, try a Hyper Beam!"

In response, Ponyta threw back her head, gave a loud whinney and snorted a powerful jet of fire at the alien I had told her to target. The creature screamed in pain, an unearthly sound that reminded me of several Pokemon using Screech at once. Then it seemed to recover and its body began to glow, causing Ponyta's Fire Blast to be deflected back at her. She barely dodged it.

Golduck, meanwhile focussed all his energy and blasted another alien with a Hyper Beam. That alien fell to the ground and did not get up; we had clearly found one of their kind's weaknesses, but there was no way Golduck could take out all the aliens alone. As is almost invariably the case with a Hyper Beam, the Attack had taken a lot out of him and he was now breathing heavily. Realising Golduck could not fight in that condition, I recalled him and sent out Raichu.

"Thunder Attack!" I ordered.

Raichu leapt into the air, charging up as he did so. I could see sparks beginning to fly from his cheeks and recalled how, even when he was a Pikachu, his Electric Attacks had been really powerful. But, before he could launch the Attack, something happened that alarmed me greatly.

One of the aliens had swooped on the younger kids while the rest of us were distracted and was now dragging Maxine away. She was screaming and crying, clearly terrified out of her wits, but all I could do was look on helplessly since I did not know what these creatures were capable of. And I couldn't tell Ponyta or Raichu to attack the creature for fear they would hit Maxine by mistake.

It was a stand-off, one which was only broken when Allan recalled his Quilava and Ekans and recklessly charged towards the alien, grabbing it from behind. There was a blinding flash of light and we all ended up on the ground . . .

When I opened my eyes, Maxine was beside me apparently unhurt. I helped her to her feet and looked round to check on the others. Most of them seemed all right, but I soon realised that Allan was missing.

We found him lying face down on the ground near where he had tackled that alien. Donna ran towards him and turned him over, recoiling in horror at what she saw. His clothes were charred black and his face was ashen - I knew without having to be told that Allan was dead.

"Allan . . ." Donna choked out as she cradled her brother's limp form. "No . . ." My heart went out to her as I imagined how I might feel if it had been Maxine. At length, Marle walked over to Donna and helped her to her feet.

"There's nothing we can do now," Marle said gently. "We need to get out of here."

I could hardly believe that Allan was gone, even though I'd only recently met him. The others seemed pretty shaken up by it too - I guess it reminded us how vulnerable we could be against the aliens. Donna in particular now looked as though she had nothing left to live for.

After we made camp that night, I decided to tackle her about it. "Wanna talk to me?" I asked when I saw her sitting apart from the others and clutching the Poke Balls containing Allan's Quilava and Ekans.

"No thanks . . ." she sniffled.

I sat down beside her anyway and rested my hand on her shoulder. "Listen," I told her firmly. "Allan sacrificed himself to save my sister. He wouldn't want you moping like this . . ."

At that moment, I spotted Vicky nearby and called her over, partly because she was nearer to Donna's age than I was but mostly because I knew she had also lost a brother to the aliens and might have some idea how Donna felt. "Donna," I added, "it's hard when someone you love dies, but at least you know what happened - Vicky doesn't even know if her own brother is alive or dead."

* * *

**Vicky**

I walked over and sat next to Donna on the fallen log she and Katie had been sitting on. "Are - are you OK?" I asked Donna, not really sure what to say.

"I suppose so," she answered, staring at the ground.

An awkward silence followed as I tried to think of something to say. "Your brother must have been brave to sacrifice himself to save Maxine," I said at last, not sure how she would react.

"Hmm . . . I'm sure anyone would've done the same. But why . . .?" Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she was going to say. I didn't know why Katie told me to talk to her; I was no good with emotions.

"What was your brother like?" Donna asked, shattering my thoughts.

"He was . . ." I had to decide what to tell her - the truth or a pretty picture? "Dan - that's his name - was annoying but protective, like any normal brother. Everyone said the way we acted was beginning to become similar, but we'd never admit it to each other. Although we were both good with computers, I was the clever one and he wass the athletic one. That's pretty much it." I took a deep breath after that to get myself back together. I already knew what Allan was like, so I didn't see much point in asking.

"Donna," I added, "I'm not very good at handing out advice, but I'll tell you this. Just like Matt would want me to be strong, Allan would want you to be strong too. So be strong for Allan."

Donna looked up and nodded, a slight smile forming in the corner of her mouth. "I'm going over with the others. You coming?" she asked as she got up.

I decided I'd sit on my own a bit to gather my thoughts.


	7. Chapter Seven

**

Chapter Seven

**

Steve

The camp that night was quiet and somber. Allan now lay under a thin layer of earth, his grave only marked by a hastily assembled bed of stones. Donna spent a long time near it and all of us passed by at one point or another offering our condolences. What had sunk in right now was the fact that we were truly at war.

When the last discussion on our plans for the next day finally broke up, I walked over to the edge of the camp and stared out into the darkness. I imagined shapes moving out in the fields. I thought I could smell burning or hear movement just by standing there. When I became aware of how paranoid I was getting, I muttered swearwords to myself and, still cursing, hurled a long stick out at one of my imagined aliens.

"You look troubled."

I turned. Marle was patting Arcanine on the head. "Oh, yeah," I said. I continued to stare out into the darkness.

"I guess Allan's death hit us all in one way or another." I paused a moment, thinking. "Yeah. Being reminded of mortality every second of the day is kind of a new experience for me. Even if I was falling out of the sky, I don't think I would have accepted that I was a dead man until I hit the ground. Now . . . Well, it's changed."

What Marle said next didn't really come as a surprise. "Are you scared?"

"Yes." I thought of saying more, maybe along the lines of "But I'm ready to go, if it's my turn next." But, before the first words could get out, I realized that I wasn't ready, not just yet. I sighed, casting one long, last look into the shadows. "Well, goodnight," I said. "Hopefully, I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

**Katie**

I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard Maxine whimpering. I got up and went to her, finding her sitting up as if in a trance, the mysterious light on her hand glowing brightly and lighting her up with an eerie light.

"Maxine?" I whispered, kneeling beside her and putting my arm around her. She didn't try to move away - in fact, I don't think she was even aware of my presence. Then, she began to speak in a strange voice that sounded very different from her own.

"The race that once dominated this world has been superseded," she said as her hand continued to glow. "We emptied the cities of their populations and aim to settle our own kind in them. However, we believe that a group of young Earthlings from the city they call Goldenrod escaped and we have been tracking them ever since . . ."

At that moment, Maxine snapped out of her trance and sat staring me in the face. I was rendered temporarily speechless as it became clear to me that Maxine was somehow channeling the aliens and they had spoken through her. How much did they know about us? I was about to ask this question when Maxine began to cry.

"Katie," she sobbed in my arms, "it's my fault Allan died - I'm the one who drew the aliens . . ."

"Shh!" I whispered. "Allan did a very brave thing and I'm sure he wouldn't want you crying because of it."

But, even as she spoke, I began to wonder if there might be some truth in what she said; it was only after she got separated from us in the Radio Tower and turned up with a glowing hand that the aliens really became a problem. Was the thing that made her hand glow a tracking device and, if so, could she be trained to control it? That would have to wait until morning.

"In any case," I went on bravely, "try and get some sleep and we'll talk about this in the morning."

As I sat looking at my sister lying with her Torchic on her chest, I began to wonder if we would ever truly be free of this menace.

* * *

**Vicky**

I lay and stared up at the stars. Although I had heard Maxine and Katie talking, I hadn't taken a word in about what they had said. I was lost in my own thoughts.

Have you ever stared at something and gone through everything that sticks in your mind? Well, that was what I was doing right then and the one thing that did stick in my mind was the first morning when the aliens arrived. I realised that this had become so special to me that I could describe what color my brothers clothes were, what time it was . . . In fact, I could describe everything. I tried to get my mind of it and go to sleep, but I couldn't. I turned to face the others and saw a shadow circle our temporary camp.

* * *

**Katie**

"Hey, you guys! Wake up!"

I sat up with a start when I heard Vicky shouting and instinctively reached for my Poke Balls. There was something hovering over us, but I couldn't see what it was. Even so, I knew it had to mean trouble for us . . .

* * *

**Matt**

The hovering thing, which I assumed was an alien ship, was either staying in one spot or was very large. I sent out Kadabra and, with only a thought, he was ready to throw anything anywhere. "Let's hope this is good . . ." I said to the others.

* * *

**Katie**

We stood transfixed as the thing - whatever it was - drew closer and closer. I had no idea what it was and wondered if I should release one of my Pokemon in readiness for when it got within range.

Nearby, some of the others had already let out their Pokemon. Matt was standing next to his Kadabra, while Marle and Rally had called on their respective Espeons and William had let out his Golem. Lizzie's Skiploom hovered a few feet above the ground, as did Olivia's Togetic. It was a tense moment with humans and Pokemon facing an unknown force.

"What's it doing?" I heard Vicky say.

"It's just . . . hovering there," said William.

"I can see that, but why? Why hasn't it attacked or something?"

When Vicky said that, I immediately realised there was something different about this spacecraft. The ones we had seen before were all wedge-shaped, but this one was more rounded. In fact, had I been asked to compare it to anything, I would have said it looked like a piece of piping that had been cut in half lengthwise and had a floor attached.

"You guys," I said, "I think someone should try and make contact with whoever's inside."

"What on Earth for!" demanded Donna, who wanted as little as possible to do with aliens right now. And I couldn't blame her, not after what had happened to Allan.

I ignored her and turned to Marle and Rally. "Can you two contact that ship?" I asked.

"We'll try," Rally said doubtfully. "What do you want us to say?"

I paused. "Tell them . . . tell them we need help fast."

* * *

**Matt**

I wanted to know more about the ship itself, like if it had weapons. While everyone was eagerly awaiting a reply, I mentally told Kadabra to Teleport around the ship and check it out.

"Have they said anything?" Olivia asked.

"Not yet," replied Marle.

Kadabra returned. _"The ship has what looks like a defence system, but no weapons as far as I could tell."_

"What kind of defence system?" I said out loud. Everyone turned to look at me. "sorry." I turned from them all as Kadabra replied.

_"It seems to be a shield generator - I couldn't even Teleport past it. It didn't hurt to touch it, though. it was like . . . glass, a very hard glass."_

I immediately told everyone else what had been seen. I finished by saying: "Keep trying to contact them - me and Kadabra will help." Then, I concentrated on Kadabra. I didn't have any Psychic powers of my own, but I had an odd connection with Kadabra that allowed to me to work through him.

* * *

**Katie**

"Still nothing?" I asked Marle and Rally.

"No," replied Marle. She broke off her attempted telepathic connection and turned to the rest of us. "Whatever that shield Matt mentioned is, it seems to block all psychic energy."

"Which still doesn't tell us who these guys are," pointed out Lizzie. "For all we know, they could be allies of the Invaders and . . ."

She was cut off abruptly as the craft slowly began to descend towards the ground. We all huddled together, watching and wondering what was about to happen. Were the beings within - whatever they were - our enemies or our saviours?

* * *

**Matt**

As we huddled together, I realized something. "What if this thing lands on us!" I cried.

This caused a general point of chaos, where everyone ran together to get out of the way of the ship. "Hurry!" people were yelling.

* * *

**Katie**

We hadn't gone far before the ship stopped a few feet above the ground and a strange figure slowly floated down inside a pillar of green light.

"An alien!" growled Rally, gripping her Charizard's Poke Ball and bracing herself to throw it. But, before she could do so, we all felt something that can't easily be described in words, but I will do my best. I don't what any of the others felt, but it was as though I was hearing a voice in my head, a commanding voice that carried much authority.

_"Be not afraid for your enemy is our enemy!"_ it proclaimed like an angel come to deliver a holy message.

It took me a few moments to realise it was using some sort of telepathy and I wondered if it could hear my own thoughts . . . The idea of having my mind scanned in such a way unnerved me and I gripped my Poke Balls tightly. How did Marle, Rally and Jewel manage to live with such powers?

But there was no mistaking the meaning of its words and nor could you mistake its sincerity. Marle had told me that it is possible to lie telepathically, but it's a very difficult skill to acquire . . .

Anyway, the light surrounding the figure faded to reveal a humanoid creature - probably male, although the long robe it wore made it hard to tell for sure - with pale blue skin and large black eyes. We all stared in stunned silence as the being regarded us thoughtfully. Finally, it "spoke" again.

_"I come to bring you salvation from the evil Empire of the Xantoli."_

"Xantoli?" echoed Matt. "What on Earth is that!"

_"Alas, if only they were not on Earth,"_ the stranger replied. _"For they are the ones who conquered my world and now seek to conquer yours."_

"And what do you want us to do about them?" asked Lizzie.

_"By yourselves, with your primitive technology, there is nothing you can do. However, a handful of my race managed to escape when they conquered us and have been pursuing them ever since. When we received word they were heading your way, we tried to head them off. Alas, we were too late . . ."_

"So now you want to help us drive these . . . Xantoli away?" commented Marle.

_"That is correct,"_ the stranger thought to us. _"And we have precious little time. Already the Xantoli have set up beacons on the tallest structures in each of your cities . . ."_

"You mean like the Radio Tower?" asked Vicky.

The stranger nodded. _"Yes - that is why all such towers must be destroyed forthwith."_

I furrowed my brow as I mentally went through all the possible locations for these Xantoli beacons, which I assumed were meant to act as homing signals for other Xantoli ships. We already knew the Radio Tower was a target, but in Johto alone there was also the Sprout Tower in Violet City, the Tin Tower in Ecruteak City and the lighthouse in Olivine. Kanto had its own radio tower in Lavender Town, as well as the Silph Building in nearby Saffron City. Finally, Hoenn had the Devon Building in Rustboro City and - I racked my brain - the Sky Pillar on an uninhabited island near Pacifidlog Town. Several famous landmarks that had to be destroyed . . .

I was jolted out of my thoughts when I heard Steve talking. "And how do you propose to destroy all these towers?" he asked.

_"With a weapon our race have devised. It will take out the towers, but it will unfortunately cause massive collateral damage . . ."_

"You mean . . ." I paused as the realisation dawned on me " . . . our homes might get destroyed too?"

The stranger nodded. _"I fear it will be so, but there is no other way to stop the Xantoli invasion."_

We all exchanged uneasy glances. What this stranger was suggesting sounded uncomfortably close to nuclear war and I wondered if we would be able to live in whatever remained after we were through. Then again, it would be a relief not to have to worry about the Xantoli . . .

"I think we should."

I looked up with a start when I realised it was Donna who had spoken. She had hardly said a word since Allan was killed, instead preferring to sit quietly and look at his Poke Balls. "What?" I asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

"I think we should destroy the towers. It'll stop any more Xantoli from coming and maybe finish the ones that are here already . . ." She paused and clenched her fists. "I hate the Xantoli! They killed my brother!"

We all knew her words were probably driven by emotion, which is rarely a good way to plan battle strategies. But, since alternatives were pretty thin on the ground right now and we all wanted rid of the Xantoli ourselves, we nodded our agreement. Steve turned to the stranger.

"OK, er . . .?"

_"Call me Sedrask,"_ the stranger filled in as it stepped forward and we saw for the first time that it had a small beard, meaning it was almost definitely male.

"OK, Sedrask," Steve went on. "Just tell us what you want us to do."

* * *

**Matt**

I had been stunned through the whole talk and had only just started recollecting my thoughts when Sedrask said: _"Come with me"_ and entered his ship.

* * *

**Katie**

We entered Sedrask's ship and stood gazing awestruck at what we saw. We were in what seemed to be the main flight deck and I could see instruments more advanced than anything I had ever imagined. The sight of all the flashing lights prompted some of the younger boys to run forward, clearly under the impression that they were about to become real-life space pilots.

"Don't touch ANYTHING!" I ordered, checking the boys before they could press any buttons they weren't supposed to. "Sedrask," I added, turning to our rescuer, "what do you want us to do?"

_"Just leave all the piloting to me, Katie,"_ he replied.

I gaped - I'd never told him my name and nor had any of the others. "H - how do you . . .?" I stammered.

_"Your friend Marle told me - or, rather, I picked up your names from her thoughts."_

Marle, clutching her Poke Balls, grinned nervously. "Thanks - just what I needed," she remarked with a forced laugh. I could see from the expression on her face that the conversation was heading in a direction she'd rather it didn't and was wondering how to steer it away when Maxine's hand suddenly glowed again.

"The Xantoli are gathering!" she cried as her Torchic jumped out of her arms and onto the control panel. "They're heading for the Tin Tower!"

* * *

**Matt**

"Tin Tower?" I echoed. "I've always wanted to see that place - I heard there was a mystical Pokemon in the area. Anyway, lets get going then!"

* * *

**Katie**

When Matt said that, I remembered a story my mum told me when I was about six or seven. It was about the Tin Tower and how it had been the roosting place of the Legendary Pokemon Ho-oh for countless centuries.

No-one knew much about Ho-oh, beyond the fact that it resembled a large bird and left a rainbow in its wake whenever it flew through the sky. Few even believed it existed - largely because no-one had ever caught one - but I couldn't help wondering if there might be something in the story, something that made it more than just a legend.

A few years earlier, I had been training my Pokemon when I saw something flying through the air. I didn't have my binoculars with me, but its shape didn't look right for any of the Flying Pokemon I'd ever seen. And my own Pokemon seemed pretty awestruck by it - Gloom and Ledyba (I hadn't evolved them then) kept looking up as it flew overhead, Raichu clung to my leg and Ponyta kept pawing the ground nervously. Could I have been one of the few people to see Ho-oh?

Coming back to the present . . .

"I sure hope Ho-oh's not at home," Lizzie remarked as we neared the Tin Tower. Clearly, she had heard the stories too.

Nearby, I could see Donna staring at four Poke Balls, two of which contained her own Hoothoot and Delcatty while the other two held Allan's Quilava and Ekans. She hated the Xantoli with a vengeance and would probably never forgive them for what they had done to her brother. And I couldn't blame her; this was war and we had to destroy the Xantoli or risk being destroyed ourselves.


	8. Chapter Eight

**

Chapter Eight

**

Matt

I laughed nervously as we all stepped out of the ship. I had never been away from Goldenrod before and was a bit more than scared, especially since this city looked as deserted as Goldenrod. No, it was more deserted. How was that possible?

_"Don't worry,"_ thought Kadabra. _"We'll be fine."_

I prayed he was right. Then, I thought I saw something fly into the Tin Tower.

* * *

**Vicky**

Ecruteak looked like a ghost town. Actually, if it was a ghost town, there would be ghosts running round. This place had nobody; not even a wild Pokemon ran through the town. But that might be because a huge spaceship had landed.

_"Let's go,"_ Sedrask thought to everyone. We all nervously walked towards the Tin Tower.

* * *

**Katie**

Ecruteak was just as unnervingly quiet as Goldenrod had been since the Xantoli showed up and I wondered once again what had happened to all the people. Could it be true that our band of kids was all that remained of the human race?

As we approached the Tin Tower, I plucked up the courage to ask Sedrask a few questions. "Sedrask?" I ventured. "What happened to everyone?"

Sedrask looked at me gravely. _"The Xantoli are ruthless in their desire to conquer,"_ he told me. _"Whenever they need to colonise a new world, they unleash a . . . weapon which causes everyone it touches to vanish, never to be seen again . . ."_

"So everyone is . . ." I paused as I struggled to say the word. " . . . dead?"

Sedrask seemed to nod, but I couldn't tell for sure. It was what we had all been dreading from day one, the news that we were the last, the survivors, the ones who lived while everyone else did not. I slipped my arm around Maxine's shoulder as she clasped her Torchic to her chest.

"Well, how come we survived?" Marle demanded. "What is it about us that stopped us from vanishing?"

_"No-one knows,"_ Sedrask told her. _"No-one knows why there is always a small group that escapes the Xantoli's initial purge. But what I do know is that they have to be stopped."_

I couldn't help agreeing with that and nor could any of the others. We had to free ourselves from this menace if it was the last thing we did. Indeed, Steve was already rallying everyone together.

"Let's do it!" he declared, releasing his Arcanine as he spoke.

"Yes!" seconded Rally as she let out her Charizard. "Down with the Xantoli!"

* * *

**Matt**

Kadabra came out as I was still taking his Poke Ball out of my pocket.

"We're ready!" I declared. "The Xantoli will pay!"

* * *

**Katie**

Before long, we had all let out at least one of our Pokemon and were bracing ourselves to rush the Tin Tower. My Ponyta was pawing the ground nervously so I gave her a reassuring pat. Actually, I was a little on edge myself, knowing we were about to face the battle of our lives and wondering if we had any real hope against the Xantoli. We had already lost Allan to these creatures and I sure as hell didn´t want us to lose anyone else.

"Donna," said Lizzie, whose Skiploom was hovering beside her, "get your Hoothoot to check for any signs of danger."

"OK," replied Donna, turning to her owl Pokemon. "Hoothoot! Use your Foresight!"

In response, Donna´s Hoothoot began to scan the area around the Tin Tower, checking for any Xantoli that might be hidden nearby. Their habit of appearing out of nowhere and vanishing as abruptly as they appeared had led some of us to suspect they might be able to make themselves invisible somehow.

But, before the Hoothoot could locate anything, a laser blast suddenly zinged from the Tower and we were forced to duck.

"What was that?!" demanded Marle.

"I don´t know," William replied. "Whatever it is, we´ve got to put it out of commission . . ."

"I know that!" I cut in. "But how are we going to get close enough?"

I turned to Sedrask, hoping he had the answer. _"I´ve seen this thing before,"_ he told us. _"It´s a Xantoli . . ."_

He was cut off as the ground suddenly began to shake violently, causing buildings to fall down and plants in the now overgrown gardens to uproot themselves. And I knew from geography lesson at school that Ecruteak was not in an earthquake zone - so what was going on here? William´s Golem and a couple of other Pokemon belonging to members of our little group knew Earthquake, but no Pokemon (except maybe Groudon) could do this . . .

_"Into my ship!"_ Sedrask ordered. _"It´s our only chance!"_

* * *

**Steve**

When everyone had piled onto the ship, Sedrask lifted it off the ground and floated it backwards away from the tower. This didn't go unnoticed by the weapon emplacement in the tower; it fired repeatedly in our general direction, but didn't connect.

"Are they really bad shots or something?" I asked.

_"I've activated the cloaking mechanism,"_ replied Sedrask. _"They are tracking us via our energy signature, which means they can't effectively hit us."_

We descended into a street with two-storey buildings on either side and flew down it at almost ground level, often scraping the sides of the buildings as they flashed by. Sedrask made a couple of turns and random maneuvers before setting down in what appeared to be the main loading bay of an old clothing warehouse.

_"We should have lost them by now,"_ he said. _"I'm powering down all systems except the cloak."_

Katie gave Sedrask a concerned look. "What was that earthquake? Was that another Xantoli weapon?"

* * *

**Matt**

_"That was something I have never seen before,"_ Sedrask told us. Seeing the looks on peoples faces, he quickly added: _"Well, there is a good chance it isn't Xantoli then."_

This didn't exactly reassure anyone.

* * *

**Katie**

I was not altogether reassured by what Sedrask said. What if the earthquake had been triggered by something the Xantoli had developed since his last encounter with them? And there was still the matter of Maxine's glowing hand to deal with, so I told Sedrask everything I could in the hope that he might have some sort of answer.

_"You say your sister's hand has been glowing?"_ he asked me.

"Yes - since she got separated from us in the Radio Tower," I replied. "And it seems the Xantoli have been on our tail ever since."

Sedrask shook his head gravely. _"A Bio-tracker,"_ he commented grimly. I was about to ask what a Bio-tracker did, but he answered the question for me. _"Whenever the Xantoli discover those that have escaped their purges, they catch someone and implant one of these devices. It allows that person to sense what they are up to, but it also lets them follow that person's every move . . ."_

My eyes narrowed in distaste as I glanced round the warehouse. Maxine was with some of the other young kids, who were playing with her Torchic and the Skitty I'd brought from the Pokemon Centre, looking like a regular nine-year-old girl. How could the Xantoli be using her like this? And was there a way to stop them?

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked, hoping desperately that the answer would be positive.

_"Once a Bio-tracker is implanted, nothing can remove it. Therefore, the only thing we can do is rid this planet of the Xantoli as quickly as possible."_

"And how do you plan to do that?"

It was Marle, who had approached unnoticed with four of her Pokemon at her side and Rally and Olivia close behind her. "Don't get me wrong," she said with a slightly ironic laugh. "But didn't you say getting rid of those . . . things could involved destroying whole cities?"

_"It appears we have little choice."_

Olivia looked fearful. "But what about the people?" she asked. "There must be others who escaped!"

_"Not in Johto,"_ Sedrask told her. _"I have scanned every settlement and found no humans other than your group. In Kanto, I found two families in Pallet Town, but the Xantoli got to them first. As for Hoenn . . ."_

A sudden rumbling noise cut him off in mid-sentence and we all rushed outside to see what was happening. "Oh my God!" gasped Vicky when she saw what was approaching down the street. I gasped too - it looked as though the entire Xantoli warfleet was headed our way.

Flying in a v-formation, the fleet seemed to consist largely of battle craft resembling giant paper darts and I would have laughed at the comparison had the situation not been so serious. As I turned to look at the others, I knew it was now or never.

The final battle was about to begin . . .

* * *

**Vicky**

My hands were shaking. My whole body was trembling in fear and then, inappropiately, the song _Final Countdown_ popped into my head. Well, it wasn't really inappropiate for the situation, but it was for how serious it was.

I got hold of five of the Poke Balls at my waist. Soon, Dotty, Bubbles, Spooky, Wiggles and the Scyther I had picked up at the Pokemon Center all stood in front of me, ready to fight.

* * *

**Katie**

I looked across at Sedrask, wondering how the Xantoli could have found us when he was supposed to be cloaking us.

"How the hell did they find us?!" demanded Steve from where he stood with his Arcanine. "I thought you said we were hidden from them!" Clearly, the same idea had occurred to him.

"They must have broken through somehow," suggested Rally as she let out her Charizard and a Tyranitar I had never seen before.

"You never told me you had a Tyranitar," I remarked as I stared at the large Rock/Dark Pokemon.

Rally grinned at me. "Titan's a little self-willed," she told me. "But these . . ." She indicated the Charizard and Tyranitar. " . . . are my strongest Pokemon."

The Xantoli ships had landed by now and their occupants were getting ready to storm the building. Then it occurred to me that someone had better get the younger kids to safety in case these . . . beings overwhelmed us. I put the idea to Marle, who was poised to battle with her Pokemon, but she shook her head.

"There's no time," she told me. "Besides, if we get killed, who will protect them? We fight together."

Jewel ran up to me and let out Ruby (her mother's Espeon) and Al (her father's Alakazam). "I'm gonna fight too," she said with a degree of bravery beyond her years.

"And so am I," added Maxine as she positioned herself beside me with her Torchic.

* * *

**Matt**

I grinned at the little ones sending out their Pokemon, bravely standing up to the threat. I couldn't help but wonder how many Pokemon battles they had each been in.

Kadabra was itching for battle. He didn't like side work much - and that was what I was giving him lately. He loved battles and a lot of my opponents claimed he had "mind lust". he loved breaking down the brains of the enemy. I knew he was only using the tactics I raised him with, but they didn't care.

Then, the Xantoli swarmed through. "Now!" I yelled.

Kadabra fired a large Confusion at the things, while, beside us, many other Attacks were blasting at them. "Keep going!" I yelled at everyone. It wasn't like me to cheer someone else on, but, then again, it wasn't like aliens to be invading such a nice place.

* * *

**Marle**

"It's the end of the world as we know it..." I sang softly to myself. Or so I thought until I caught Steve looking at me strangely.

Blushing a little, I shrugged and muttered something along the lines of "seemed appropriate" before turning back to my Pokemon. Everyone has their own way of "whistling in the dark" and morbid humor just happened to be mine. I had to do something or I'd end up going insane. Without quite knowing why, but realizing that I simply could not get my mouth to shut up despite what my brain told it, I turned back to Steve. "So . . . no more philosophy about life and death?"

"No, guess not," he replied, after a moment's puzzled glance.

I sighed in the following awkward silence. "Personally, I'm always up for a little gallows humor," I muttered to myself. The silence was soon broken by Katie, who suggested I take the younger kids to safety before the fighting broke out. I told her there was no time. By the time I found somewhere safe, wherever that would be, the fighting might be over. Plus, if this really WAS the last battle and we lost, there would be no more safe places. On a more personal level, what would I do with a bunch of young kids? Besides, if we got killed, who would protect them?

As I said the last line, Steve turned and our gazes met for a brief second. I saw something like understanding and . . . something more, before we both turned to the sounds of the approaching Xantoli. I took a deep breath to try and soothe the squirming feeling growing in my stomach and nearly jumped when I felt someone grasp my hand suddenly. I whirled around, surprised to find myself face-to-face with Steve.

"Be careful, OK?" His voice sounded strained and it was all I could do to nod and try to control my breathing. "And remember, I'm watching out for you." Before I could reply, Steve had pulled me into a tight, almost bone-crushing hug.

Next thing I knew, Steve was gone, making last-minute preparations for the battle with his Arcanine. I stood there in a daze for a moment, wondering what just happened. Shadow nuzzled my hand worriedly, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to the moment. I shook my head, hoping to clear my senses. I needed to be alert for the last battle, if this is what it truly was.

I sat down to have a last word with my Pokemon before the battle. Looking around the semi-circle, I thought of all that we'd been through together - Firestorm, Shadow, Jewel, Merlin, Kita, even Miyoko - and it could all be wiped off the face of the earth in a matter of minutes.

Whatever I was about to say would remain unsaid as the two sides clashed and chaos reigned. With no idea how I could help, I joined the fray, determined to do whatever I could to rid the Earth of these vile creatures. There was too much worth saving to give up hope now.

* * *

**Matt**

"Kadabra, on your right!" I screamed, warning Kadabra of a claw coming in quickly. Then I realized there was little chance of our survival. "Kadabra, forget . . ." I began.

What was I thinking?! Giving up wouldn't work. "Uh . . . use Psychic on that one!" I said, pointing to an abnormally large Xantoli.

It flew back into three of its fellows. "Good job!" I grinned, looking to see how the others were doing.

* * *

**Katie**

"Ponyta, try a Flamethrower!" I yelled, watching as she snorted a blast of fire at several Xantoli. "Raichu!" I called to my electric mouse. "Thundershock Attack!"

Raichu leapt into the air, sparks flying from his cheeks as he charged up. Then, with a powerful crash of thunder, he zapped a nearby Xantoli and put it out of action. I cheered his efforts and turned to where Golduck and a few other Water Pokemon were using their Attacks to bombard any Xantoli which ventured within range.

Donna was fighting like one possessed; her Hoothoot and Delcatty and Allan's Quilava and Ekans kept up a constant barrage of Attacks. It was clear from the expression on her face that she would not quit until every Xantoli in the place was dealt with, but I was worried about the Pokemon. Her Delcatty was breathing heavily and she had fired so many Ice Beams that she was beginning to run out of energy.

"Donna!" I called across to her. "Recall Delcatty - it can't fight in this condition!"

"Never!" she shot back with a steely glare in her eyes. "Not until I've made these . . . things pay!"

The odds seemed stacked against us, but we kept on fighting anyway. Even Maxine's Torchic had managed to get in a few Attacks. But Donna's refusal to ease up worried me - it was as if she had an obsession with taking out as many Xantoli as possible and never mind what happened to her or her Pokemon. I decided something had to be done.

"Bellossom!" I called as I released my Grass Pokemon, who had not been involved in any of the fighting.

She emerged in a flash of light. "Quick!" I ordered. "Use Stun Spore on Donna! And don't argue - this is an emergency!"

Reluctantly because she'd never had to use her Attacks on a human before, Bellossom turned to Donna and, with a few quick movements, sprayed her with powder. In an instant, Donna keeled over and I hurried over to her, recalling Bellossom as I did so.

"I had to do it - no time to explain," I said as I called Hoothoot, Delcatty, Quilava and Ekans back into their Poke Balls and slung Donna over my shoulder.

* * *

**Vicky**

I ordered my Pokemon to continue attacking. All except Dotty - I had kept it as a Ditto as I had an idea.

"Sedrask!" I called, running towards him. "How many Xantoli are there inside their ship?" I asked urgently.

_"There is no chance of getting inside the ship - not even if you teleport,"_ he thought to me.

I'd forgotten he could read my mind. "We need to do something!" I insisted. "Our Pokemon are too weak to battle the Xantoli!" I stared at him.

_"You can't find anyone?"_ he thought to me.

I really wished he would let me think in peace. "What about Hoenn?" I asked. "You never said anything about it."

_"There are a few people still in Pacifilog Town and on islands just outside of the Hoenn region, but we can't teleport there."_

"We need help, don't you understand?! With the Xantoli here, we can go get them and ask them to help us!" I felt like a fire was burning in my eyes. I was determined to get to Hoenn, whether it was on my own or not.

* * *

**Matt**

"If we can get to the Tin Tower," I said, "maybe Ho-oh will help us to Hoenn. I mean, it would be to save the world. And we could teleport there, right?"

I prepared to give Kadabra the signal to start Teleporting us.

* * *

**Katie**

As I was trying to get Donna to safety, I overheard what Matt said. "Wait!" I told him as his Kadabra got ready to Teleport us to the Tin Tower. "If the Xantoli have the Tower armed, it'll be too dangerous to go near it. Besides, I doubt Ho-oh is still there - it's kind of hard to . . ."

I was cut off as a gang of Xantoli started firing on us, forcing us to fling ourselves to the ground. "Got any other bright ideas?" Matt said sarcastically.

"Right now, all I'm interested in is getting out of here," I told him from where I was shielding Donna. I glanced across at Sedrask, who nodded grimly.

_"We'll have to start destroying the towers,_ he told us. _"I hoped it would never come to this, but . . ."_

"What about Ho-oh?" Lizzie demanded from where she was attending to her Wooper, who had been injured in the skirmish.

_"Ho-oh is no longer at the Tin Tower,"_ Sedrask told her simply. _In fact, no trace of it has been found since the Xantoli arrived."_

Sedrask's revelation alarmed me - if a Legendary Bird had deserted the city it was said to guard, the world was in big trouble. And, with our Pokemon rapidly running out of energy, I knew we had little choice but to strike hard and fast, wiping out the Xantoli in one fell swoop.

_"Into my ship!"_ Sedrask ordered us.

As we ran towards his ship, recalling our Pokemon and dodging the Xantoli as we did so, something occurred to me. The Ecruteak Pokemon Centre must still have Pokemon in it and they didn't deserve to die when we destroyed the Tin Tower and, with it, the city of Ecruteak. I made a bolt for it.

"Katie! Where are you going?!" Maxine called after me.

"To save the Pokemon in the Pokemon Centre," I replied.

"Then I'm going with you," said Marle.

"And so am I," added Vicky.

I knew this was a foolish risk to take, but I felt I had to do something for those Pokemon.

* * *

**Matt**

As the rescue team ran to the Pokemon Center, I held their backs with Kadabra. "Just a little longer, my friend!" I told him.

* * *

**Katie**

Marle, Vicky and I raced towards the Pokemon Centre. As we made our way through the deserted streets, we were constantly on the alert for any Xantoli that might be after us.

Luckily, we reached the Pokemon Centre without incident and got in through a side door which had, conveniently, been left open. "OK," said Marle. "Let's go look for those Poke Balls."

"They'll be in a store-room," I told her. "Like the one in Goldenrod . . ." I paused as I thought of the city I'd lived in all my life and which I'd never see again after today. Tears pricked at my eyes as I silently cursed the Xantoli for ruining all our lives.

"C'mon, Katie!" Vicky called as she and Marle nipped through the door that led to the part of the Centre that was off-limits to the public.

I sighed and followed them. Inside the room were row upon row of Poke Balls, most of them the standard type. Here and there, however, I could see other types of Poke Ball - several Park Balls from the Bug-Catching Contest, some green Safari Balls, a few of the special Poke Balls made from hollowed-out Apricorns, the odd Dive Ball and even a Luxury Ball. I tried to count them, but I gave up after the third shelf.

"Oh my God!" gasped Vicky. "How can we carry all those?"

"We can't," Marle said shortly as she stuffed her pack with as many Poke Balls as it could hold. "Just the ones we can carry."

I saw the sense in what she was doing so, rather than try to save all the Pokemon, I just took as many as I could. "We can only do so much," I reminded Vicky as she nodded reluctantly and grabbed a selection of Poke Balls at random.

"Now we'd better get back to the others," said Marle.

"But what will we do with all these extra Pokemon?" I asked, heaving my bag (now filled with Poke Balls) over my shoulder. The Poke Balls housing my own Pokemon were in my pockets, ready to be used if we ran into any trouble.

Marle shrugged. "Release them into the wild, I guess."

* * *

**Matt**

Katie, Marle and Vicky returned, with Poke Balls filling every available pocket and bag.

We all rushed into the ship. "This isnt that hard," I lied.

* * *

**Katie**

Marle, Vicky and I had saved as many Pokemon as we could and all that remained now was to deal with the Xantoli. We had boarded Sedrask's ship and were flying high above Ecruteak, which, from the air, looked like any other city. Looking through the windscreen, I could see the city's Pokemon Gym, clearly recognisible because someone had painted a Haunter on the roof.

But the scene was deceptive for we all knew that there were no humans left there, that the Xantoli had destroyed them. Well, now it was our turn to do some destroying. We were heading for the Tin Tower and were going to take it out with the weapons Sedrask had developed.

_"We must strike hard and fast,"_ he told us. _"If we can take out all the Xantoli . . ."_

"How can we be sure this will work?" Lizzie asked sceptically. Her Wooper and Skiploom, who were perched beside her, nodded in agreement.

_"We can't, but we have to try. Their conquest of this planet cannot be allowed to succeed."_

I got up and paced the floor of Sedrask's command deck. "OK, so we kick some Xantoli butt," I said. "But what then? What's going to happen to us?"

We all exchanged uneasy glances, knowing that Sedrask's plan to destroy all towers meant possibly wiping out whole cities, including our home city of Goldenrod. After today, everything we had ever known would be gone and that wasn't a pleasent feeling. But, even if all the Xantoli were now in Ecruteak and we took them out with one attack, that still left us with the problem of dealing with the long-term future. Sooner or later, without anyone to repair them, buildings which survived our assault on the Xantoli would begin to fall down.

"Good point, Katie," said Steve. "It's all very well chasing aliens and saving the world. But it looks like we'll be the ones to inherit whatever's left - us and those people in Hoenn that Sedrask mentioned."

By now, the Tin Tower was looming, looking just like it did on a postcard I'd seen once. I tensed, half-expecting us to get shot at again, and waited while Sedrask armed his ship's weapons.

_"We're going to use something called an Ultrashock,"_ he told us. _"It will reduce that tower to dust and cause extensive damage to nearby buildings . . ."_ He paused. _"Believe me, if there was another course of action, we would have taken it."_

* * *

**Vicky**

I stared at Ecruteak City, my eyes open wide. I wanted to take a picture of this, just so I could remember the city like this forever.

I saw Sedrask hit a few buttons and I think he thought to us that it was ready. I couldn't tell, though; my mind just continued to look at the houses below me.

* * *

**Matt**

I didn't want to watch as the Tower was destroyed, but I couldn't look away. Sedrask pushed a button and the building fell.

_"An Ultrashock is completely undetectable; that is why you couldn't see it,"_ he said, even though no one had asked.

With that, we waited silently as Sedrask's ship brought us to our next destination.


	9. Epilogue

**

Epilogue

**

Katie

One minute the Tin Tower was there, the next it was gone. An invisible shockwave swept through the streets of Ecruteak, demolishing everything in its wake, sort of like a nuclear explosion without all the fire and heat. In the distance, I could see what looked like a Xantoli ship taking off into the sky.

"They're fleeing," said Marle, who was standing silently beside Steve. Seemingly oblivious to the rest of us, she slipped her hand into his and smiled at him.

_"Yes,"_ replied Sedrask. _"And I shall make sure they never come back."_

"And how will you do that?" I asked. True, it had been exciting battling an alien force, but there had been too much fear and heartache these last few days. Our parents, Allan . . . I paused; thinking about those we had lost to the Xantoli wouldn't bring them back. In any case, I wanted to go somewhere far away, somewhere we could start again and forget everything that had happened.

_"I will build a cloaking device over this planet,"_ Sedrask said. _"It will keep out any future Xantoli ships."_

"Good," Jewel said fervently, resting her small hand on her mother's Espeon's head. I looked down at her and smiled. She was now almost as much a sister to me as Maxine. "But what'll happen to us?" she added after a moment's thought.

In reply, Sedrask told us all about an island in Hoenn, one of the many which dotted that land's coastline. It was large enough to support a small community of humans and Pokemon, but it was uninhabited and didn't even have a name. This was where he was going to take us, us and any other human survivors there might be.

"What do you guys think?" asked Steve.

We exchanged glances. Then, Donna stepped forward and spoke out. "Let's go there, away from everything that happened," she said. She looked down at the Poke Balls containing Allan's Quilava and Ekans, tears in her eyes. I knew she would need time to get over losing her brother and maybe a new start was what she needed.

"I'm with Donna," I added, placing one arm around Jewel's shoulder and the other around Maxine's. It was then that I noticed Maxine's hand was no longer glowing. The link must have been broken when we destroyed the Tin Tower and forced the Xantoli to flee. Hopefully, with a little help from Sedrask's cloaking device, they would not be back.

Then, I looked round at all the others - Lizzie, Marle, Donna, Rally, Steve, Matt, Vicky and all the rest - my friends in a time of crisis. "Anyway, I've always wanted to see Hoenn."

Hours later, we were hovering over an island somewhere in Hoenn. It looked really peaceful, the perfect place for us to make a new start. A school of Gorebyss swam in the nearby bay and I envied them. Their lives had been untouched by the crisis.

_"I will leave you here and go round up any remaining Xantoli,"_ Sedrask told us as he landed the ship on the beach.

We stepped out into what I can only describe as paradise. The sun shone warmly on our backs and the wind was a gentle breeze. "I guess this is it," I said. "We can get some of what we need from nearby towns, but . . ."

"And how do you propose to do that?" asked William. "I don't see any boats here."

"Maybe not," said Lizzie before anyone else could object. "But Marle and Rally each have a Lapras."

"Yeah, that's right," I said, recalling that both girls had mentioned having a Lapras, only they hadn't been much use in our situation so I'd never really been introduced to them. "Lapras are real good at finding their way across the ocean."

"Don't forget my Pidgeot," added Marle.

"And my Charizard," supplied Rally.

Steve looked round at all of us as Sedrask's ship took of into the sky. "OK," he said. "And what shall we call this island?"

That was a good point - it wouldn't seem right us being here and not naming this place. But what should we call it. New Goldenrod? No, it was probably better to break from anything that might remind us of the past. In that case . . .

"How about Victory Island?" I offered. "To commemorate our victory over the Xantoli."

Everyone smiled and voiced their agreement. They all seemed to like the name so Victory Island it was, the home of a group of kids who'd been lucky enough to escape the Xantoli invasion. Of course, living here and being self-sufficient wouldn't be easy, but we would make it.

As I looked round at everyone, I was reminded of a poster that used to hang in the corridor at school. It read:

**Today is the first day of the rest of your life.**


End file.
